Subband operation for cross division duplex technology

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method are provided for performing a subband operation for cross division duplex (XDD) technology to enhance coverage in wireless communication systems. A method by a base station (BS) includes configuring a user equipment (UE) with a legacy uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP) or legacy downlink (DL) BWP and providing the UE with a UL subband or a DL subband in a full duplex operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Serial Nos. 63/281,188,63/297,352, and 63/392,367, which were filed in the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office on Nov. 19, 2021, Jan. 7, 2022, and Jul. 26, 2022,respectively, the entire contents of each of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems, andmore particularly, to a subband operation for cross division duplex(XDD) technology to enhance coverage in wireless communication systems.

SUMMARY

In legacy new radio (NR) technology, a slot format indication isprovided in a three-step approach.

Step 1 is a cell specific indication in which a next generation NodeB(e.g., a gNB) provides all user equipments (UEs) in a cell with slotconfigurations by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon in either a system informationblock 1 (SIB1) for a primary cell (PCell) or ServingCellConfigCommon fora secondary cell (SCell), where TDD refers to time division duplexing.

The following information is provided to the UEs in the serving cell.

The periodicity of the downlink (DL)-uplink (UL) pattern, which is thesummation of periodicities indicated by pattern1 and pattern2. Theresulting period may be divided by 20 milliseconds (msec).

Pattern1, which provides the number of consecutive DL slots in thebeginning of DL-UL pattern period, the number of DL symbols in thebeginning of the slot following the last full DL slot, the number ofconsecutive UL slots at the end DL-UL pattern period, and the number ofthe UL symbols at the end of the slot preceding the first full UL slot.The remaining symbols are considered as flexible.

Pattern2, which provides similar information as pattern1, but theconfigurations of pattern2 apply to the slot following the last slotindicated by pattern1.

Pattern1 and Pattern2 can be configured by the TDD-UL-DL-Patternprovided below.

TDD-UL-DL-Pattern ::=  SEQUENCE {  dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity  ENUMERATED {ms0p5, ms0p625, ms1, ms1p25, ms2, ms2p5, ms5, ms10}, nrofDownlinkSlots  INTEGER (0..maxNrofSlots),  nrofDownlinkSymbols  INTEGER   (0..maxNrofSymbols−1),  nrofUplinkSlots INTEGER(0..maxNrofSlots),  nrofUplinkSymbols  INTEGER  (0..maxNrofSymbols−1), ...,  [[  dl-UL-TransmissionPeriodicity-v1530    ENUMERATED {ms3,   ms4} OPTIONAL -- Need R  ]] }

Step 2 is UE specific signaling. In Step 2, the gNB can override any ofthe flexible symbols as indicated in Step 1. In other words, any symbolindicated as the UL/DL in Step 1 should remain as a UL/DL, respectively,and cannot be altered to be flexible by Step 2. This is realized byTDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated for a particular slot indexed by a radioresource control (RRC) parameter slotIndex shown below and itsparameters are defined as follows.

A gNB can indicate that all symbols within the slot are DL or UL byallDownlink or allUplink, respectively, can indicate the number ofconsecutive downlink symbols in the beginning of this slot bynrofDownlinkSymbols, and can indicate the number of consecutive uplinksymbols at the end of this slot by nrofUplinkSymbols.

The remaining symbols are considered as flexible.

Although the gNB in Step 2 indicates the slot configurations for allsymbols in the slot, the provided UL/DL indications may be identical tothose provided by Step 1. The following is the information element (IE)that used to configure TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated.

TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig ::=   SEQUENCE {  slotIndex TDD-UL-DL-SlotIndex, symbols CHOICE {  allDownlink   NULL,  allUplink  NULL,  explicit SEQUENCE {   nrofDownlinkSymbols    INTEGER    (1..maxNrofSymbols−1)OPTIONAL, -- Need S   nrofUplinkSymbols    INTEGER   (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL -- Need S  }  } }

Dynamic indication for a UL transmission refers to the transmission of aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical uplink controlchannel (PUCCH), a physical random access channel (PRACH), or a soundingreference signal (SRS) that is indicated by a downlink controlinformation (DCI) format, a random access response (RAR) UL grant, afallbackRAR UL grant, or a successRAR. Dynamic indication for a DLreception refers to the reception of a physical downlink shared channel(PDSCH) and channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)indicated by DCI.

After Step 2, if the UE is not configured to receive DCI format 2_0, theindicated flexible symbols can be used for the dynamic reception or thetransmission. In other words, dynamic grants can override a flexiblesymbol when DCI format 2_0 is not configured.

A UE receives a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a PDSCHand a CSI-RS configured by higher layer signaling that partially/fullyspans flexible symbols unless the UE receives a dynamic indication forthe UL transmission. In other words, a dynamic UL overrides the RRCconfigured DL when they occur over flexible symbols.

For a PUCCH, a PUSCH, a PRACH, and an SRS configured by higher layersignaling that partially/fully spans flexible symbols, when a UE detectsan indication of dynamic DL reception on those symbols, the UE cancelsthe UL transmission based on a particular timeline and UE capability.

On flexible symbols, the UE does not expect a conflict between higherlayer configurations that instruct the UE to transmit or receive.

Step 3 is dynamic indication. In Step 3, a gNB can use groupcommon-physical control channel (GC-PDCCH), DCI format 2_0 to overridethe flexible symbols indicated in Steps 1 and 2. The slot formatindicator (SFI)-index field in DCI 2_0 points to one of the slot formatcombinations, slotFormatCombinations, and each combination isconstructed by slotFormatCombination, as shown below. Each combinationis assigned an identifier (ID) that is used to point to the combinationby DCI 2_0. For each combination, slotFormats provide the slot format ofconsecutive slots by using a series of specified slot formats in Table11.1.1-1 in 3GPP technical specification (TS) 38.213, as shown below.

SlotFormatCombination ::=  SEQUENCE {  slotFormatCombinationId SlotFormatCombinationId,  slotFormats SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofSlotFormatsPerCombination)) OF INTEGER (0..255) }

RRC IE for slotFormatCombination

The provided indication applies, starting from the slot in which the UEreceives DCI 2_0 for duration and depends on the number of slotsincluded in the indicated combination.

The indicated number of slots may be greater than or equal to themonitoring periodicity of DCI 2_0. However, if the UE detects multipleDCI 2_0, the UE expects the multiple DCI 2_0 to indicate the same formatfor the slot.

The indicated slot format by Step 3 cannot override any symbol indicatedas downlink or uplink. In other words, DCI 2_0 can only override thesymbols indicated as flexible in the previous two steps and may bealigned with any uplink/downlink indicated symbols in the previous Steps1 and 2.

The UE does not expect a conflict between dynamically indicatedtransmission or reception with the indication provided by DCI 2_0.

For flexible symbols indicated in the previous Steps 1 and 2, and whenthe UE detects DCI 2_0, the following is applied:

A PDCCH is received only if all symbols of the associated controlresource set (CORESET) are indicated as “D”, the UE receives any dynamicreception corresponding with any F symbol indicated by DCI 2_0, the UEtransmits any dynamic transmission corresponding with any F symbolindicated by DCI 2_0, and if there is no dynamic transmission orreception on any F symbols indicated by DCI 2_0, no transmission orreception occurs on those symbols and they are treated as gaps withoutany DL/UL.

For transmission or reception configured by higher layer reception, theUE transmits or receives only if DCI 2_0 indicates that correspondingsymbols are D (downlink) or U (uplink), respectively.

The UE does not expect a conflict between dynamic transmission orreception and DCI 2_0 indicating any of the corresponding symbols as Dor U, respectively.

For the PDCCH and PDSCH and a CSI-RS configured by higher layersignaling that partially/fully spans flexible or UL symbols indicated byDCI 2_0, the UE does not receive these symbols. In other words, dynamicUL or DCI 2_0 indicating U or F (flexible) overrides the RRC configuredDL when they occur over flexible symbols.

For a PUCCH, a PUSCH, and a PRACH, and an SRS configured by higher layersignaling that partially/fully spans flexible or DL symbols indicated byDCI 2_0, or when a UE detects an indication of dynamic DL reception onthose symbols, the UE cancels the UL transmission based on a timelineand UE capability.

For flexible symbols indicated in Steps 1 and 2, and when the UE doesnot detect DCI 2_0, although being configured to received it, the UEtransmits or receives the dynamic transmission or reception, receives aPDCCH, does not receive a DL configured by a higher layer, and cancels aUL configured by a higher layer according to a timeline and UEcapability.

Switching a bandwidth part (BWP) requires some time to enable adjustmentof the UE's transmission/reception (Tx/Rx) chain based on the new activeBWP. If the switching occurs due to the reception of a PDCCH with a BWPswitching command, the UE is not required to transmit/receive from theend of the 3^(rd) symbol of a slot where the PDCCH is received to thebeginning of the slot indicated by a time domain resource assignment(TDRA) field. This time offset has to be greater than the necessarydelay periods required to conduct BWP switching provided in TS-38.133.

However, if the BWP occurs due to the expiry of the BWP-InactivityTimer,the UE is not required to transmit/receive from the beginning of asubframe in FR1 or half of a subframe in FR2 that is immediately afterthe expiry of the BWP inactivity timer until the beginning of the slotwhere the UE can transmit/receive.

FIG. 1 is a graph 100 illustrating a subband non-overlapping scheme forfull-duplex operation 100.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a subband non-overlapping scheme may be used torealize some of the benefits of a full duplex operation mode whilemaintaining reasonable implementation overhead. In this scheme, a firstportion of time-frequency resources is used for the DL 101/UL 102, whilethe remaining time-frequency resources are used for the UL 102/DL 101,as illustrated in FIG. 1 . Herein, non-overlapping indicates that the UL102 and DL 101 are not on the same frequency resources, whereasoverlapping indicates that the UL 102 and DL 101 are at least partly onthe same frequency resources.

In this case, it is important to define these portions and introducemanners to provide the UE with their configurations. Furtherenhancements may also be needed for scheduling within the subbandnon-overlapping due to its relatively smaller bandwidth than theoperating width if the subband is not used and legacy TDD is deployed.

For an unpaired spectrum, a DL BWP and a UL BWP with the same IDs arelinked together and shall have the same center frequency. As such, thereis a need in the art for a defined relationship between thenon-overlapping portion of the UL/DL subband (i.e., the UL subband or DLsubband) and the associated DL/UL BWP (i.e., the DL BWP or UL BWP).

In addition to configuring the UL/DL subband, there is a need in the artfor enhanced scheduling the DL/UL around the configured UL/DL subband toaccommodate the non-continuity of the available RBs due to the presenceof the UL/DL subband. This is of particular importance for resourceallocation Type 1, which relies on indicating the start and length ofthe grant in the frequency domain.

Accordingly, the present disclosure has been made to address at leastthe above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide atleast the advantages described below.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide procedures to definethe UL/DL subband as a region of a continuous number of resource blocks(RBs).

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide procedures todefine the UL/DL subband in the frequency domain, based on an offsetrelative to the associated BWP or Point A, an indication of the subbandwidth as the number of RBs, and to change the provided subbandconfigurations semi-statically or dynamically.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to define the UL/DL subbandin the time domain, based on slot format indication by higher layersignaling of the slot indication or a GC-PDCCH.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a method by a BSincludes configuring a UE with a legacy UL BWP or legacy DL BWP andproviding the UE with a UL subband or a DL subband in a full duplexoperation.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a BS includes atleast one processor, and at least one memory operatively connected withthe at least one processor, the at least one memory storinginstructions, which when executed, instruct the at least one processorto perform a method by configuring a UE with a legacy UL BWP or legacyDL BWP, and providing the UE with a UL subband or a DL subband in a fullduplex operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following section, the aspects of the subject matter disclosedherein will be described with reference to exemplary embodimentsillustrated in the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a graph 100 illustrating a subband non-overlapping scheme forfull-duplex operation;

FIG. 2 is a graph 200 illustrating a UL subband position determinationbased on an offset from the associated UL BWP, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a graph 300 illustrating a UL subband configuration providedas part of a slot format configuration, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a period of a DL/UL pattern, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a graph 500 illustrating symbols indicated by an offset for anuplink subband (SU) and a downlink subband (SD), according to anembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a graph 600 illustrating two slot format indicator setsprovided to a UE by a gNB in a single DL-UL pattern period, according toan embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a graph 700 illustrating a method of determining atransmission direction by two slot format indicator sets based on alegacy symbol/slot format indicator, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a graph 800 illustrating a slot format indicator for ahalf-duplex UE with two sets of indicators, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a graph 900 illustrating an indicator Set 2 as a bitmapindicating the presence of a UL subband, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a graph 1000 illustrating indicator Set 2 as a bitmapindicating the presence of a UL subband for different RB sets, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a graph 1100 illustrating a used UL subband determined basedon the associated active UL BWP, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a graph 1200 illustrating an FDRA interpreted based on a ULsubband and a legacy UL BWP, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a graph 1300 illustrating a time gap when switching from theUL subband to the legacy UL BWP, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a graph 1400 illustrating scheduling of DCI indicatingmultiple BWP IDs for multiple switch points, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 15 illustrates the use of DL RBs around the UL subband, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a graph 1600 illustrating the use of UL RBs around a DLsubband, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a graph 1700 illustrating rate matching or puncturing of aPDSCH which overlaps with an active UL subband, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 18 is a graph 1800 illustrating use of multiple FDRA indications todetermine the frequency domain allocation of the PDSCH above and belowan active UL subband, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a graph 1900 illustrating a modification of the legacy FDRAfield to carry FDRA1 and FDRA 2, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a graph 2000 illustrating N_(RB_gap) as defined for PUSCHresource allocation type 1, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 21 are graphs 2100 illustrating a guard band at edges of the activeUL/DL subband, according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment 2200, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. Itwill be understood, however, by those skilled in the art that thedisclosed aspects may be practiced without these specific details. Inother instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuitshave not been described in detail to not obscure the subject matterdisclosed herein.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment may beincluded in at least one embodiment disclosed herein. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” or“according to one embodiment” (or other phrases having similar import)in various places throughout this specification may not necessarily allbe referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments. In this regard, as used herein, theword “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not tobe construed as necessarily preferred or advantageous over otherembodiments. Additionally, the particular features, structures, orcharacteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments. Also, depending on the context of discussion herein, asingular term may include the corresponding plural forms and a pluralterm may include the corresponding singular form. Similarly, ahyphenated term (e.g., “two-dimensional,” “pre-determined,”“pixel-specific,” etc.) may be occasionally interchangeably used with acorresponding non-hyphenated version (e.g., “two dimensional,”“predetermined,” “pixel specific,” etc.), and a capitalized entry (e.g.,“Counter Clock,” “Row Select,” “PIXOUT,” etc.) may be interchangeablyused with a corresponding non-capitalized version (e.g., “counterclock,” “row select,” “pixout,” etc.). Such occasional interchangeableuses shall not be considered inconsistent with each other.

Also, depending on the context of discussion herein, a singular term mayinclude the corresponding plural forms and a plural term may include thecorresponding singular form. It is further noted that various figures(including component diagrams) shown and discussed herein are forillustrative purpose only, and are not drawn to scale. For example, thedimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to otherelements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, referencenumerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate correspondingand/or analogous elements.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing someexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of theclaimed subject matter. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood thatthe terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing on, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, itcan be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layeror intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to”or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are nointervening elements or layers present. Like numerals refer to likeelements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terms “first,” “second,” etc., as used herein, are used as labelsfor nouns that they precede, and do not imply any type of ordering(e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.) unless explicitly defined assuch. Furthermore, the same reference numerals may be used across two ormore figures to refer to parts, components, blocks, circuits, units, ormodules having the same or similar functionality. Such usage is,however, for simplicity of illustration and ease of discussion only; itdoes not imply that the construction or architectural details of suchcomponents or units are the same across all embodiments or suchcommonly-referenced parts/modules are the only way to implement some ofthe example embodiments disclosed herein.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this subject matter belongs. Itwill be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

As used herein, the term “module” refers to any combination of software,firmware and/or hardware configured to provide the functionalitydescribed herein in connection with a module. For example, software maybe embodied as a software package, code and/or instruction set orinstructions, and the term “hardware,” as used in any implementationdescribed herein, may include, for example, singly or in anycombination, an assembly, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry,state machine circuitry, and/or firmware that stores instructionsexecuted by programmable circuitry. The modules may, collectively orindividually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a largersystem, for example, but not limited to, an integrated circuit (IC),system on-a-chip (SoC), an assembly, and so forth.

Defining the UL/DL subband(s) within the DL/UL portions, respectively,in TDD operation mode assists in revealing the benefits of full-duplexoperation while minimizing the implementation complexity. Thenon-overlapping the UL/DL subband may include a contiguous ornon-contiguous number of RBs used for the UL/DL transmission while theremaining RBs in the same orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing(OFDM) symbol, slot, subframe, etc., are used for the DL/ULtransmission, respectively. The same RBs can be used DL/ULsimultaneously in an overlapping the UL/DL subband scheme.

The present disclosure sets forth solutions developed for capable UEs,such as full duplex UEs, which can be applied for half-duplex UEs withsome restrictions. A half-duplex UE does not expect to transmit andreceive on the symbols, even if UL/DL subband is confined within a DLBWP and UL BWP, respectively. Though this restriction can be imposed bya gNB, it is challenging to ensure that no collisions occur. Hence, atleast one of the following prioritization/dropping/cancelation rules maybe applied.

A purpose for introducing the UL/DL subband is to reduce the latency ofUL transmission/DL reception. Therefore, for a UL subband within a DLBWP or a carrier, the UE transmits the indicated UL transmission (e.g.,configured by higher layer signaling, indicated by DCI, RAR UL grant,fallbackRAR UL grant, successRAR, etc.) and does not receive the DLwhich overlaps with any symbols used for the UL transmission within theUL subband. However, for a DL subband within a UL BWP, when a conflictoccurs between DL reception (e.g., configured by higher layer, indicatedby DCI, etc.) in the DL subband and UL transmission in the UL BWP or acarrier, the UE may cancel or partially cancel UL transmission withinthe UL BWP to receive the DL within the DL subband. This cancelation canbe subject to UE capability and according to a particular timeline. Forexample, this may be similar to the cancellation timeline/capabilitywhen conflict occurs between RRC UL transmission and dynamic DLreception.

The UE's behavior may also be determined based on whether the grant isdynamic or configured by higher layer signaling. Dynamic scheduling mayhave higher priority to be transmitted/received thanreceiving/transmitting a transmission configured by higher layersignaling. In addition, in a DL BWP, if a UE is configured by higherlayer signaling to receive a DL transmission within a set of symbols andreceives dynamic UL grant scheduling within the UL transmission of asubband in any symbol in this set, the UE does not receive the DLtransmission in the DL BWP and transmits on the UL within the ULsubband.

For example, the UE may be configured to receive a semi-persistentscheduling (SPS) PDSCH, and a periodic CSI-RS in the legacy DL BWP andto receive a dynamic UL transmission such as a PUSCH, an SRS, or a PUCCHthat fully or partially overlap in the time domain. In this case, the UEtransmits the dynamic UL transmission and cancels the DL reception.Another example for a DL signal configured by the higher layer is asynchronization signal block (SSB) which may require special treatmentbecause the UE may need the SSB for synchronization or assessing thelink quality. Also, a CSI-RS is used for assessing the beam quality anddeclaring the beam failure. For such an important configured RS, the UEmay not expect a collision to occur between dynamic UL transmission inthe UL subband and such important RSs in the legacy DL BWP.

However, the UE may be configured to statically or semi-staticallytransmit a UL in the UL subband such as configured UL grant type 1 byRRC or configured UL grant 2 activated by a medium accesscontrol-control element (MAC-CE), periodic SRS, semi-persistent SRS,etc. In fully or partially overlapped symbols, the UE may be scheduledto receive dynamic DL transmission such as a PDSCH or a dynamic CSI-RS.In this case, the UE may cancel the UL transmission subject to a definedtimeline and capability as those applied for the UL cancellation, andinstead, receive the DL transmission.

A similar approach can be applied when a conflict occurs between adynamic DL within a DL subband and a UL transmission configured byhigher layer signaling in legacy UL BWP. In this case, the UE may cancela UL transmission subject to a defined set timeline and capability asthose applied for UL cancellation. Some exception may be applied as wellfor important UL transmission configured by higher layer signaling. Forexample, if the RACH occasion associated with beam failure recoveryrequest collides with a dynamic DL with the DL subband, the UE may stillprioritize the transmission of the beam failure recovery request in thelegacy UL BWP.

The UE does not expect a collision to occur between dynamic DL receptionand dynamic UL transmission.

Alternatively, the UE's behavior may depend on the indicated/configuredpriority of the conflicting transmissions. For example, if the ULtransmission within a UL subband (irrespective of whether the UL subbandis dynamically scheduled or configured by higher layer signaling) hashigher priority than a DL reception within a DL BWP, the UE may transmitthe UL and cancel DL reception. Similarly, if the DL reception within aDL subband (irrespective of whether the DL subband is dynamicallyscheduled or configured by higher layer signaling) has higher prioritythan a UL transmission within a UL BWP, the UE may receive the DL andcancel UL transmission according to a particular timeline/capability asdescribed herein.

The priority for each transmission or reception may be determined in asimilar manner as the legacy approaches based on two priority levels(high and low) which can be indicated dynamically or by higher layersignaling. However, in legacy NR, the assigned priority indication isused to compare the priority of the transmission in a particulardirection. In other words, low and high priority are used to comparebetween different DL or UL transmissions, not to compare the DL with theUL or vice versa. This concept can be further extended to allow thecomparison between DL and UL. For example, in DL reception indicated ashigh priority, the UE may assume this DL has higher priority than the ULtransmission indicated as low priority. Similarly, in UL transmissionindicated as high priority, the UE may assume this UL transmission hashigher priority than the DL reception indicated as low priority. Also,some predefined signals/channels may have high priority such as commonsignals and channels including SSB, RMSI, RACH, etc.

The prioritization/dropping/cancelation rules may be applied, even ifthere is no conflict between active DL reception and UL transmission,which may be beneficial when the subband is shared by multiple UEs. Evenif a particular UE has no UL transmission or DL reception in the UL orDL subband, other UEs may have such UL transmission or DL reception. Inthis case, if the UE is configured by higher layer signaling to transmitor receive on a regular (i.e., legacy) DL BWP or UL BWP, and thattransmission or reception partially or fully overlaps in the frequencydomain and/or time domain with the configured UL or DL subband,respectively, the gNB will be unable to execute both transmissiondirections under the non-overlapping UL/DL subband framework. Forexample, if a set of symbols/slots is indicated as the DL on a legacy DLBWP and some are indicated as the UL subband, the UE may cancel the DLreception configured by higher layer signaling in any of thesesymbols/slots even if no conflict exists with UL transmission in the ULsubband.

This rule may be applied when the configured DL reception partially orfully overlaps with the RBs configured within the UL subband. However,if allocated RBs for the DL reception do not overlap with UL subband,the UE may receive the DL transmission when no conflict exists with anactive UL transmission within the UL subband. For example, when some SPSPDSCH occasions collide with a UL subband, the UE may not receive thoseoccasions. Similarly, the UE may not receive periodic CSI-RS orsemi-persistent CSI-RS that collides with the UL subband. The UE may notexpect important signals and channels such as the SSB and CSI-RS usedfor assessing beam quality to collide with the UL subband.

This rule may be applied irrespective of whether the configured DLreception partially or fully overlaps with the RBs configured within theUL subband. This may be beneficial if the UE is unaware of the frequencydomain location of the subband at this point.

Though in this example, the cancelation of configured DL reception onthe legacy DL BWP is described, the same concept can be extended forconfigured UL transmission on the legacy UL BWP when it partially orfully overlaps with the RBs configured within the DL subband following aparticular timeline or according to UE capability as those applied forUL cancellation. A similar exception may be applied for an importantconfigured UL. For example, ., the UE may expect a RACH occasion inlegacy UL BWP used for initial access or beam failure recovery requestto collide with the DL subband.

Compared to the previously described method, which affords a higherpriority for the transmission or reception on a UL or DL subband,respectively, the converse is also valuable in some scenarios whereoperation on a subband is less important compared with operation on alegacy BWP. For example, if a set of symbols/slots is indicated as theDL on a legacy DL BWP and some of the symbols or slots are indicated asthe UL subband, the UE may cancel the UL transmission configured byhigher layer signaling in any of these symbols/slots, even if there isno conflict with DL reception in the legacy DL BWP. This is alsobeneficial in some situations when the gNB turns off the UL subband asdescribed later herein.

UL/DL subband as a region

Configurations and signaling

The UL/DL subband may be defined as a region of a contiguous number ofRBs associated with a UL/DL BWP, respectively. This framework isbeneficial due to its simplicity by defining only a few contiguous RBsto be used as a subband.

This association may be used to determine the frequency domain positionof the UL/DL subband relative to the associated UL/DL BWP and based onthe numerology of that BWP, respectively. For example, a frequencydomain offset may exist between particular points in the UL/DL subbandand another point in the associated UL/DL BWP, respectively. Thereference point can be the first PRB, last PRB, the center RE, etc. Theoffset value may be indicated through higher layer signaling, such as anRRC parameter subband_offset, to provide the gNB with the flexibility toconfigure the subband in the frequency domain. Also, if a UL/DL subbandis used during an RRC idle/inactive state, such an offset may betransmitted in remaining system information (RMSI), other systeminformation (OSI), etc.

The offset value may be predefined, such as in a specification, toreduce the signaling overhead. For example, the offset may be zero,i.e., the start of the UL/DL subband is aligned with the start of theassociated UL/DL BWP, or the center frequency of the UL/DL subband andthe associated UL/DL BWP may be identical.

FIG. 2 is a graph 200 illustrating a UL subband position determinationbased on an offset from the associated UL BWP 202, according to anembodiment. In particular, FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which a ULsubband region 201 is associated with a UL BWP 202.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the position of the UL BWP 202 in the frequencydomain is provided as an offset 203 from the first RB of the UL BWP 204to the first RB of the UL subband 205 based on the UL BWP numerology.

The UL/DL subband is defined as a region of contiguous RBs. Itsfrequency domain position is determined relative to the associated UL/DLBWP, respectively.

For capable UEs, such as large form-factor UEs that may operate in fullduplex mode, a UL/DL subband will fall in an active DL/UL BWP,respectively. For these UEs, a UL/DL subband may be associated with anactive DL/UL BWP, respectively, not a UL/DL BWP. In this case, theposition of the UL/DL subband may be relative to the associated activeDL/UL BWP, instead of the UL/DL BWP, may be based on their numerology,and may be configured as previously described herein.

To simplify the implementation of a full duplex UE, some restrictionsmay be applied for the UL transmission and DL reception that occur onthe same symbols. For example, the UL transmission and DL receptionshould have the same numerology.

In general, for half-duplex or full duplex UEs and to simplify theirimplementation, the numerology used for transmission/reception on theUL/DL subband may be restricted to be identical to the numerology usedfor the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP.

For capable UEs, a UL/DL subband may be associated with an active DL/ULBWP, respectively, not a UL/DL BWP.

The numerology used for used for transmission/reception on the UL/DLsubband may be identical to the one used for the associated UL/DL BWP orDL/UL BWP.

In either case, the offset 203 may be relative to another point that isunnecessary in the associated DL/UL BWP but the offset 203 can beassociated with the carrier that contains the subband. For example, thereference point may be relative to Point A and the offset is determinedbased on the numerology of the associated BWP. This may be beneficial asthe frequency domain location of the subband is independent of the BWPlocation, rendering it unnecessary for the offset 203 to be transmittedfor each configured BWP. In other words, the offset 203 may be from thebeginning or the center of the UL/DL subband to point A, for example.Also, the offset 203 may be relative to the beginning of the carrier orany reference point within the carrier. For example, the UL/DL subbandmay have the same center frequency as the containing carrier.

Point A may be used as a reference point for offset determination of theUL/DL subband.

The length of the UL/DL subband (number of PRBs) may be configuredseparately through higher layer signaling, such as RRC parametersubband_length, or indicated in RMSI or OSI, so as to provide maximumflexibility to separately indicate the start and length of the subband.Alternatively, the offset and length of the UL/DL subband can be jointlyindicated using the resource indication value (RIV) method that is usedto indicate that start and length of the BWP. Joint indication by theRIV method reduces the number of bits needed to signal the start andlength of the UL/DL subband. The RIV value may be indicated throughhigher layer signaling, such as RRC parameter subband_Start_length, orindicated in RMSI or OSI.

The length and start of the UL/DL subband may be separately or jointlyindicated.

The start and length of the UL/DL subband (number of PRBs) may beadapted semi-statically or even dynamically to avoid RRC reconfigurationand the associated latency each time the configurations of the subbandneed to be updated. For example, a gNB may provide a UE with multiplelengths of the UL/DL subband through RRC and down-select through aMAC-CE, i.e., (RRC+MAC-CE). Alternatives such as RRC+DCI orRRC+MAC-CE+DCI may also be used. Such an approach is beneficial toenabling the gNB to expand or contract the bandwidth of the UL/DLsubband as needed. A particular timeline can be applied to determinewhen the new configurations may be applied. For example, when there is aMAC-CE indication, the new configurations may be applied in the firstslot after slot n+3N_(slot) ^(subframe,μ) where n is the slot for theHARQ-Ack of the MAC-CE. For DCI-based adaption, the new configurationsmay be applied in the first symbol after m symbols from the last symbolafter the CORESET carrying the DCI, for example.

The length and start of the UL/DL subband may be adjustedsemi-statically (MAC-CE), or dynamically by DCI. The length of the UL/DLsubband may be indicated by using the index of the last RB in the UL/DLsubband, instead of indicating the number of RBs within the UL/DLsubband. Therefore, another offset value may be configured to indicatethe index of the last RB relative to a particular BWP or carrier. Thesame solutions described for configuring the offset value indicating thestart of the subband can be easily extended to the offset value used forindicating the last RB in the subband.

The maximum number of possibly configured subbands may be predefined toavoid any signaling overhead or may be indicated as part of UEcapability signaling to support different UE capabilities. This limitcan be per cell, per BWP, per band, or per transmission direction (e.g.,the maximum number of UL subbands may differ from that of DL subbands),for example.

If multiple subbands can be configured in one or more of these manners,then the gNB may instruct the UE to use a particular subband. Thisinstruction can be through one or more of RRC, MAC-CE, and DCI. Forexample, if a particular BWP is associated with three subbands, then thegNB can indicate which subband is to be used when this BWP is active.

A default subband among the configured subbands can be defined based onsome rules, such as the subband with the lowest index, the smallestbandwidth (number of PRBs), or the closest center frequency to thecenter frequency of the associated BWP. This may be beneficial when theUE does not receive an indication of which subband is to be used, or ifthe UE somehow misses the gNB's indication.

It may be beneficial to restrict the number of simultaneously active ULsubbands to be one at any time instant to simplify UE implementation.This differs from a legacy BWP; for example, a full duplex UE maysimultaneously have an active DL BWP and an active UL subband. However,capable UEs may support multiple active UL subbands that have the sameor different center frequencies. The same rules regarding the number ofactive UL subbands can be applied to the DL subbands. The UE may notexpect to have a UL subband and DL subband on the symbol.

The UE may indicate whether it supports UL/DL subband operation as partof its capability report.

To define the UL/DL subband region in time domain, one or more of thefollowing solutions may be applied.

Slot format-based indication

In legacy NR, a gNB can use tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/ortdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and/or DCI format 2_0 to provide a UEwith the slot format to determine the slot format and activate eitherDL/UL BWP. With the introduction of the UL/DL subband, if a set ofsymbols of a slot is indicated as or inferred to be the UL, it isunclear whether the UE should activate the UL BWP or UL subband. Thesame applies for the DL, i.e., if a set of symbols of a slot isindicated as or inferred to be the DL, it is unclear whether the UEshould activate the DL BWP or DL subband. The symbols inferred as the DLor UL may be originally configured/indicated as a flexible symbol. Basedon the scheduled/configured DL/UL channels (PDSCH/PUSCH/PRACH, etc.) andDL/UL signaling (CSI-RS, SRS, SSB, etc.), the UE can infer whether thesesymbols may be considered as the DL or UL.

New states may be provided that correspond to the UL/DL subband inaddition to downlink (D), uplink (U) and flexible (F). For example,there may be a subband for the UL (SU) and subband for the DL (SD).Based on the provided configurations, such astdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicatedand/or DCI format 2_0 providing the slot format, a UE can determine atwhich symbol/slot/subframe/frame the UL/DL subband should start or end.

FIG. 3 is a graph 300 illustrating when, in Slot 0 301, Slot 1 302 andOFDM symbols 0-3 303 of Slot 2 304 are indicated as the DL BWP 305,according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3 , for Slot 0 301, Slot 1 302, and OFDM symbols 0-3of Slot 2 303, the UE expects to receive the DL transmission within thebandwidth of the active DL BWP 305. Thereafter, OFDM symbols 4-13 306 ofSlot 2 303, Slot 3 304 and OFDM symbols 0-9 308 of Slot 4 305 areindicated as the UL subband 310. In this set of OFDM symbols, the UEexpects to transmit a UL transmission with a bandwidth that does notexceed the bandwidth of the UL subband 310. OFDM symbols 10-13 311 ofSlot 4 305 and Slot 5 309 are indicated as a legacy UL BWP 312. In otherwords, in this set of OFDM symbols, the UE expects to transmit a UL thatfalls within the UL BWP 312 which is wider than the UL subband 310.

In addition to slot formats denoted by D, U, and F, disclosed herein arenew slot format states, i.e., UL subband and DL subband, to indicatewhere the UL/DL subbands start and end.

A gNB may provide a UE with information about which symbols/slots areconfigured as the UL/DL subband through higher layer signaling. Forexample, such information may be provided as part oftdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.RRC parameters such as nrofDownlinkSubbandSlots,nrofDownlinkSubandSymbols, nrofUplinkSubbandSlots, ornrofUplinkSubbandSymbols can be used as follows.

Based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon:

Configuring a subband using common signaling is beneficial to reduce thesignaling overhead as this signal is simultaneously received by multipleUEs.

The tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE referenced herein may be identicalto the same IE used in legacy NR in either ServingCellConfigCommon orServingCellConfigCommonSIB. To avoid impacting legacy UEs, the disclosedIE can differ from the used in legacy NR. Though the IE is labeledherein as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, the IE may have a differentname, such as ConfigurationCommonSubband, than the IE used by legacy NR.For example, ServingCellConfigCommon or ServingCellConfigCommonSIB maybe referred to as at least one of tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon andtdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommonSubband. The disclosed slot format statesmay be included in the latter, while the former may follow the legacysignaling procedure.

For the UL subband:

nrofUplinkSubbandSlots indicates the number of full slots to be used bythe UL subband; and

nrofUplinkSubbandSymbols indicates the number consecutive symbols to beused by UL subband symbols.

The locations of slots/symbols used for the UL subband can be anywherewithin the period in which slot configurations are provided bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, for example.

FIG. 4 illustrates one period of DL/UL pattern, according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4 , pursuant to the legacy procedure, theslots/symbols used for the DL BWP 401 and 402 are defined at thebeginning of the period. Similarly, the slots/symbols used for UL BWP403 and 404 are defined at the end of the period. The slots/symbols usedfor a UL subband 405, 406, and 407 precede the slots/symbols for the ULBWP 403 and 404. The remaining symbols/slots without indication 408,i.e., which are not indicated as a DL/UL for the DL/UL BWP or as a ULfor an uplink subband, are considered as flexible.

Although in the example of FIG. 4 , the symbols/slot for the UL subband405, 406, and 407 precede the symbols/slots for the UL BWP 403 and 404,the symbols/slot for the UL subband 405, 406, and 407 may be after thesymbols/slots for the DL BWP 401 and 402 (preceding flexible symbols408, if any). In this case, separate higher layer parameters mayindicate symbols/slots for a UL subband 405, 406, and 407 that followthe slots/symbols for the DL BWP 401 and 402, indicated bynrofDownlinkSlots/nrofDownlinkSymbols, or that precede the slots/symbolsfor the UL BWP 403 and 404, indicated bynrofUplinkSlots/nrofUplinkSymbols.

For example, the following RRC parameters can be usednrofUplinkSubbandSlotsAfterDL, nrofUplinkSubbandSymbolsAfterDL,nrofUplinkSubbandSlotsBeforeUL, and/or nrofUplinkSubbandSymbolsBeforeUL.This provides more flexibility in indicating the symbols/slots used forthe UL subband 405, 406, and 407 with the additionally introducedsignal.

For the DL subband: the same approach as that used to configuresymbols/slots for the DL subband can be applied.

New higher layer signaling is disclosed herein to indicate the number ofslots/symbols to be used as the UL/DL subband within the DL-UL patternperiod based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon.

Symbols/slots for the UL subband can be after the symbols/slotsindicated as the DL by nrofDownlinkSymbols/nrofDownlinkSlots, or beforethe symbols/slots indicated as the UL bynrofUplinkSymbols/nrofUplinkSlots.

Based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated:

In contrast to tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, which is cell specific andcommon for all UEs in the cell, a gNB can override the flexible symbolsthrough UE-specific signaling, i.e., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.This is beneficial as the UL/DL subband can be adjusted based on servicerequirements for each individual UE.

Further enhancements may be provided for this IE to allow the gNB toindicate the UL/DL subband as well, in addition to the legacy UL/DL. Forexample, TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig can indicate the entire slot is for theUL/DL subband using RRC parameters allUplinkSubband andallDownlinkSubband. For symbol level granularity, the gNB may indicatethe number of symbols to be used as the UL/DL subband. For example,nrofDownlinkSubbandSymbols may indicate the number of consecutivesymbols for the DL subband that follow the number of DL symbolsindicated by nrofDownlinkSymbols, if configured.

Otherwise, nrofDownlinkSubbandSymbols may indicate the number ofconsecutive symbols for the DL subband from the beginning of the slot.Similarly, nrofUplinkSubbandSymbols may indicate the number ofconsecutive symbols for the UL subband that precede the number of the ULsymbols indicated by nrofUplinkSymbols, if configured.

Otherwise, nrofUplinkSubbandSymbols may indicate the number ofconsecutive symbols at the end of the slot.

Table 1 below illustrates disclosed RRC parameters, i.e., configuringthe UL/DL subband based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated. It is notedthat additional RRC parameters can be introduced to define a UL/DLsubband before/after the flexible symbols.

TABLE 1 TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig ::=    SEQUENCE {  slotIndexTDD-UL-DL-SlotIndex,  symbols CHOICE {  allDownlink   NULL,  allUplink NULL,   allDownlinkSubband     NULL,   allUplinkSubband    NULL, explicit  SEQUENCE {   nrofDownlinkSymbols    INTEGER   (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL, -- Need S  nrofDownlinkSubbandSymbols      INTEGER      (1..maxNrofSymbols−1)OPTIONAL, -- Need S   nrofUplinkSubbandSymbols     INTEGER    (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL -- Need S    nrofUplinkSymbols     INTEGER      (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL -- Need S }

A gNB can indicate the symbols for the UL/DL subband to the UE through abitmap of length 14 bits, for example. The gNB can flexibly indicatedwhich symbols are for the UL/DL subband. There may be a bitmap for thesymbols for the UL subband and another bitmap for the DL subband. Forexample, if the bit for a symbol is set to 1, the symbol is used for theUL subband or DL subband, respectively. These bitmaps may override thesymbols indicated for the DL/UL based on an active legacy DL/UL BWP. Forexample, if nrofDownlinkSymbols indicates that the first four symbolsare DL based on an active legacy DL BWP, and the bitmap corresponding tothe DL subband indicates that any of these symbols is for the DLsubband, the UE can assume that these symbols are for the DL subband andare not based on the active legacy DL BWP.

New higher layer signaling is disclosed to indicate which slots or thesymbol within a slot are used as the UL/DL subband within the DL-ULpattern period based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

The UE does not expect that any symbol/slot indicated to be downlink oruplink based on a legacy active DL or UL BWP, bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon to be indicated as the uplink or downlinksubband by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

However, any symbol/slot indicated to be downlink or uplink based on thelegacy active DL or UL BWP, by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon may beindicated as downlink or uplink subband bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

As another example, the symbols indicated as D or U bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon cannot be changed to SD (subband for thedownlink) or SU (subband for the uplink), respectively, bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

An RRC IE tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated does not change thetransmission directions explicitly indicated bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon. However, for the same transmissiondirection, tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated can overridetdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon from the legacy active DL/UL BWP to theDL/UL subband.

In legacy NR, if a UE is not configured to monitor DCI format 2_0, forthe symbols indicated as flexible based on tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommonor tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, the UE can receive a PDSCH/CSI-RSbased on the scheduling DCI or transmit a PUSCH, a PUCCH, a PRACH, or anSRS based on indication received in the DCI, RAR, etc. With theintroduction of the UL/DL subband, it is unclear whether thetransmission/reception may be confined within the UL/DL subband orregular active UL/DL BWP.

Herein, if a UE is configured with a UL/DL subband, the UE may assumethat UL transmission or DL reception will occur within the UL or DLsubband on the flexible symbols.

To provide additional flexibility to the gNB, if a UE receivesindication for the DL reception or UL transmission on any symbol of theflexible symbols set that is wider than the DL or UL subband, the UEexpects to operate based on the legacy active UL/DL BWP.

For flexible symbols and when a UE is not configured to receive DCI 2_0,the UE expects to operate based on the bandwidth UL/DL subband if thesesubbands are configured.

For flexible symbols and when a UE is not configured to receive DCI 2_0,the UE operates on based on the legacy UL/DL BWP if the bandwidth of theindicated transmission or reception is wider than the configured UL orDL subband.

Based on DCI 2_0:

Slots/symbols to be used as a UL/DL subband may be indicated through aGC-PDCCH, such as an SFI-index field in DCI 2_0. This provides the gNBwith the ability to adjust the slot format dynamically with lowerlatency compared with the solutions based on higher layer signaling. Tothis end, the reserved values of Table 11.1.1-1 in TS 38.213 may be usedto indicate the symbols used for SU and SD, in addition to F and D/Uwhich are mainly defined relative to the legacy active DL BWP or UL BWP.Table 2 below illustrates values to be added to above-described Table11.1.1-1.

TABLE 2 53 D D F F F F U D D F F F F U 54 F F F F F F F D D D D D D D 55D D F F F U U U D D D D D D 56 D D SD SD F F F SU SU SU U U U U 57 SD SDSD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD 58 SU SU SU SU SU SU SU SU SU SU SUSU SU SU 59 SD SD SD F F F F F F SU SU SU SU SU . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx-Reserved 254 255  UE determines the slot format for the slot based ontdd-UL-DL- ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and,if any, on detected DCI formats

Specifically, Table 2 illustrates a slot format for a normal cyclicprefix (CP). For DCI 2_0, SU and SD are introduced in addition to D/F/Uby exploiting the reserved values.

For a set of symbols of a slot that is indicated as downlink or uplinkby tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated,the UE does not expect to detect a DCI format 2_0 with an SFI-indexfield value indicating the set of symbols of the slot as the uplinksubband or downlink subband, respectively. In other words, DCI 2_0 doesnot change the transmission directions indicated bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated.

However, for the same transmission direction (DL/UL), DCI 2_0 can changefrom “D” for the legacy active DL BWP to downlink subband “SD”, and from“U” for the legacy active UL

BWP to uplink subband “SU”. For flexible symbols determined based on theconfigurations provided by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, ortdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, DCI 2_0 can indicate whether they areSD, SU, D, U, or F.

Alternatively, the symbols indicated as D/U bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated maynot be changed to SD/SU, respectively, by DCI 2_0.

DCI 2_0 can override the symbols indicated bytdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated as Dor U to be SD or SU, respectively, but may not change D or U to be SU orSD, respectively.

Regardless of the manner in which the slots/symbols are indicated to bea UL/DL subband, rules regarding whether a UE expects totransmit/receive may be identical to those specified for the legacyUL/DL BWP. However, the distinction is that the UL transmission in theUL subband or DL reception in the DL subband is limited to the bandwidthof the UL or DL subband, respectively.

For flexible symbols and upon the detection of DCI 2_0, the same rulesas those defined to determine whether the UE transmits or receives canbe applied when the UL/DL subband is configured. The UE may assume thatthe UL/DL subband is to be applied unless any of the scheduled UL/DLtransmission spans a bandwidth that is wider than the bandwidth of theUL/DL subband. In this case, the UE may assume that the legacy activeUL/DL BWP is applied.

The UE cancels the reception of a CSI-RS or a PDSCH configured by higherlayer signaling when the UE detects DCI 2_0 indicating that the symbolsare for an uplink subband, flexible, or UL for the legacy UL BWP or theUE receives indication for the UL transmission.

For the transmission of an SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH configuredby higher layer signaling, and when a UE detects DCI 2_0 indicating thatsymbols are for a downlink subband, flexible, or downlink with a legacyDL BWP, then the same timeline for cancelation/partial cancelation thatis used for legacy NR can be applied.

For flexible symbols and when DCI 2_0 is undetected, the same rules asthose defined to determine whether the UE transmits or receives can beapplied when the UL/DL subband is configured. The UE may assume that theUL/DL subband is to be applied unless any of the scheduled UL/DLtransmissions span a bandwidth that is wider than the bandwidth of theUL/DL subband. In this case, the UE may assume that the legacy activeUL/DL BWP is applied.

Though it can be understood that a symbol or slot indicated asuplink/downlink for the legacy BWP at any particular signaling stage(tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated) canbe overridden to be a UL/DL subband, respectively, in the subsequentsignaling stage (tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated or DCI 2_0), theconverse may also occur. For example, DCI 2_0 may indicate that symbolsor slots that were previously indicated as the UL/DL subband have becomeuplink/downlink for the legacy BWP. Alternatively,tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated can(re)configure the symbols or slots by changing them from the UL/DLsubband to uplink/downlink for the legacy BWP, respectively.

To configure/indicate the symbols/slots to be used for the UL/DLsubband, the UE may be provided with a particular time offset relativeto some point in time such as the beginning of radio frame. Thissolution may be applied on the legacy slot format indicator or any ofthe slot format indicators disclosed herein. Specifically, the indicatedoffsets are applied for each configured period of the indicated slotformat, e.g., summation of periodicities indicated by pattern1 andpattern2.

FIG. 5 is a graph 500 illustrating symbols indicated by an offset for anSU and an SD, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5 , an offset 501 configured by higher layer signalingcan indicate the beginning of the UL subband relative to the first ULsymbol for the legacy UL BWP, and another offset 502 indicates the endof DL subband relative to the last DL symbol for the legacy DL BWP.

The offset values may be configured through higher layer signaling, andmultiple values may be provided and down selection is performed byMAC-CE, i.e., RRC+MAC-CE, or a combination of RRC+DCI or RRC+MAC-CE+DCI.The offset value may be indicated by RMSI or OSI, as well.

The beginning of SU 504 or the end of SD 503 can be indicated as anoffset relative to the first UL symbol or from the last DL symbol,respectively. The offset value may be provided by higher layersignaling.

Herein, an overlaying signaling procedure is provided in which anoverlaying signaling on the legacy signaling is used to indicate theconfigurations and slot format for the UL/DL subband. This embodimentreduces the impact on legacy UEs and provides the time locations of theUL/DL subband.

This approach can be used by UEs supporting subband full duplex whereinthe UE can transmit and receive in the symbol, but in non-overlappingRBs. Moreover, this approach can be applied by a half-duplex UE which isable to either transmit or receive at any particular symbol.

Two separate sets of indicators are provided, wherein the set maycontain {tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated,tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, DCI format 2_0, or offset valuepointing to the start/end of the subband}. One set, i.e., Set 1, is usedto indicate D/F/U based on the legacy active DL BWP and UL BWP. In otherwords, Set 1 may be similar to the legacy slot format indicationprocedure. Another set (i.e., Set 2) is used to indicate SD/F/SU basedon the downlink subband and uplink subband. In this case, indicator Set2 may act as an overlay signaling to indicate the subbandconfigurations. An additional state can be added to Set 2 to indicatethat no subband is configured, denoted by “No”, in addition to SD andSU. This new state for indicating no subband, “No”, can be introduced inthe same procedure as for introducing SD and SU described in thisdisclosure. Set 2 may indicate the downlink subband and uplink subbandby using the newly disclosed symbol/slot formats, e.g., SD or SU, or byusing the legacy symbol/slot format, e.g., D or U, as explained herein.

FIG. 6 is a graph 600 illustrating two slot format indicator setsprovided to a UE by a gNB in a single DL-UL pattern period, according toan embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the UE can determine the transmission direction byusing the slot format indicator sets. Specifically, the slot formatindicated by Set 1 601 (hereinafter, Set 1) indicates the operationbased on the legacy DL/UL BWP and the slot format indicated by Set 2(hereinafter, Set 2) is for a subband operation. The indications by Sets1 and 2 can be overlaid to determine which symbols can be used as alegacy BWP or the subband operation.

In Slot 0 603 and Slot 1 604, Set 1 601 instructs the UE to considerthat the entirety of Slot 0 603 and Slot 1 604 is for the DL based onthe legacy DL BWP 605. However, for Slot 0 603, Set 2 602 indicates thatthere is no subband operation and symbols from 2 to 13 are for the ULsubband 606 in Slot 1 604. In this case, the UE is instructed to operateas a full duplex device over a non-overlapped UL subband 606 whilereceiving the DL on the remaining RBs within the legacy active DL BWP605.

In Slot 2 607, Set 1 601 instructs the UE to operate as the DL insymbols 0-3 based on the legacy active DL BWP and as flexible for theremaining symbols. However, Set 2 602 overrides the flexible symbols tobe in the DL subband 609.

In Slot 3 610, symbols 0-9 are instructed to be flexible by Set 1 601and as no subband by Set 2 602. In this case, these symbols remainflexible and their status is determined as described herein. Theremaining symbols in the slot are indicated to be the UL based on thelegacy active UL BWP. Concurrently, Set 2 602 indicates the remainingsymbols as being on the DL subband 609.

Slot 4 611 is instructed as being the UL by Set 1 601 based on thelegacy active UL BWP 612 with no subband operation as instructed by Set2 602.

The example described in FIG. 6 may be extended to when Set 2 602 usesthe legacy symbol/slot format, D, U, or F, to indicate the UL subband orDL subband. Additional symbol/slot formats may be used to indicate nosubband. The UE may infer the presence of a subband when Set 2 602indicates the opposite direction of Set 1 601 to the UE. Specifically,the UE's behavior may be defined by at least one of the followinginferences.

For the set of symbols/slots instructed to be D (or U) by Set 1 601 andinstructed to be U (or D) by Set 2 602, the UE may infer the presence ofthe UL (or DL) subband within the legacy DL (or UL) BWP, respectively.

For the set of symbols/slots instructed to be F by Set 1 601 andinstructed to be U (D) by Set 2 602, the UE may infer the presence ofthe UL (DL) subband within the legacy DL (UL) BWP, respectively. Similarto the previous example, Set 2 602 may override the flexiblesymbols/slots to be the DL or UL subband.

For the set of symbols/slots instructed to be D (or U) by Set 1 601 andinstructed to be no subband by Set 2 602, the UE may infer the absenceof the UL (or DL) subband within the legacy DL (or UL) BWP,respectively. Indicating no subband in this case may be realized byintroducing a new symbol/slot format indicating such as no subband, bythe absence of the any instructions based on Set 2 602, or by indicatedF by Set 2 602 while D/U by Set 1 601.

For the set of symbols/slots instructed to be F by Set 1 601 and Set 2602, these symbols remain flexible and their status is determined asdescribed herein.

Throughout the disclosure, indicator Set 2 602 instructing a UE of a setof symbols/slots as UL/DL subband implies either using the newsymbol/slot format indicator or legacy symbol/slot format indicator, asdescribed herein.

FIG. 7 is a graph 700 illustrating a method of determining atransmission direction by two slot format indicator sets based on alegacy symbol/slot format indicator, according to an embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 7 illustrates Set 2 702 providing indications of a ULsubband or DL subband using legacy symbol/slot format indicators, i.e.,based on “D”, “U”, “F” and “no subband”.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the UEs are configured with two slot formatindicator sets. Set 1 701 indicates the slot format based on the legacyactive UL BWP 704 and DL BWP 703, while Set 2 702 overlays signaling andis for the UL subband 705 and DL subband 706.

FIG. 8 is a graph 800 illustrating a slot format indicator for ahalf-duplex UE with two sets of indicators, according to an embodiment.Specifically, although FIG. 7 depicts the behavior of a full duplex UE,the procedure of overlaying signaling may also be used for half duplexUEs as illustrated in FIG. 8 . Compared with FIG. 7 , the UE can eithertransmit or receive at any symbol in FIG. 8 .

Referring to FIG. 8 , the indication provided by Set 2 802 may use theabove-described symbol/slot formats SD and SU, or the legacy symbol/slotformat D or U. Providing indicators of Set 2 by new slot formats SD andSU is beneficial to reduce the specification impact. In other words, SDand SU clearly indicate whether the symbol/slot should be used as the DLsubband or UL subband. Though the indicators of Set 2 by the legacysymbol/slot format could still be used, additional rules would be neededto assist the UE in determining whether the symbol/slot should be usedas the subband or legacy BWP as described herein. The aforementioned UEbehavior may be applied to determine the presence of the UL subband 803or DL subband 804.

Set 1 801 and Set 2 802 can provide the slot format by either higherlayer signaling such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/ortdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated for Set 1 801 ortdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommonSubband and/ortdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicatedSubband and/or offset parameter(s)indicating the start or the end of the subband for Set 2 802 (as anoverlaying signal on the legacy signaling), or dynamic indication in DCI2_0, or any other DCI. When Set 2 802 uses the legacy symbol/slot formatindicator, e.g., D, U, or F, the legacy RRC configurations may be reusedwith an additional suffix such as tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon-r18and/or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated-r18. If the UE receives thelegacy RRC parameter and the new parameter, the UE determines that itreceives subband configurations. If Set 2 802 has a new no subbandformat for a set of symbols/slots, it can be defined similar to how D,U, F, SD or SU is linked to a particular symbol/slot.

For dynamic indication of each set, the transmissions may be in the sameDCI 2_0, but one field is based on configurations provided by Set 1 andanother field is based on the configurations provided by Set 2 as shownin Table 2 or using the legacy symbol/slot format indication in additionto the subband indication. In this case, separate positionInDCIparameters may be used to indicate the location of each field in the DCI2_0. Alternatively, two DCI 2_0 signals with different cyclic redundancycheck (CRC) scrambled RNTIs may be provided by higher layer signaling ortransmitted in different monitoring instances by being associating withdifferent search spaces. However, the UE may expect that both DCIs havethe same size to reduce the number of blind decodes (BDs).

Set 1 801 and Set 2 802 can be provided by higher layer signaling ordynamically by RRC or DCI 2_0, respectively. For Set 2 802 in thesubband operation, the UL subband 803, DL subband 804, flexible 805, orno subband may be indicated.

Therefore, it is important to specify the UE behavior for differentcollision scenarios between the indicated slot format provided by Set 1801 or Set 2 802. Accordingly, at least one of the following may beperformed.

For a set of symbols indicated to be UL/DL based on the legacy activeBWP by DCI 2_0 based on Set 1 801, the UE does not expect to receive Set2 802 of the UL/DL instructing any of these symbols to be the UL subband803 or DL subband 804, respectively.

For a set of symbols indicated to be flexible 805 based on Set 1 801, ifany of these symbols is indicated to be the UL subband 803 or DL subband804 by Set 2 802, the UE may assume that these symbols follow theinstruction provided by Set 2 802.

If the set of symbols is indicated to be flexible 805 by RRC signalingin Set 1 801 and DCI 2_0 of Set 1 801 is configured but is not received,the UE may prioritize the indication from one set and disregard theindication from the other set. For example, the UE may apply theindication from Set 1 801 and apply the legacy behavior when DCI 2_0 isconfigured but not received, on a set of symbols/slots indicated asflexible 805 based on the legacy BWP.

If the dynamic indication of both Set 1 801 and Set 2 802 instructs theUE to consider a set of symbols as flexible 805, the UE does not receiveany PDCCH in these symbols. If a CORESET spans some RBs indicated as theUL subband 803 by Set 2 802, the UE may assume that these RBs are not inthe CORESET in the set of symbols indicated as the UL subband 803. Sinceeach bit frequencyDomainResources in ControlResourceSet IE correspondsto a group of 6 RBs, the UL subband 803 may be misaligned with thebeginning or the end of a particular group. Therefore, the entire RBgroup is dropped and assumed as not belonging to the CORESET.

To simplify the UE implementation and avoid the change of the CORESETfrom one monitoring occasion to another based on the presence of absenceof the UL subband 803, the UE may not expect such behavior to occur. Inother words, the RBs belonging to the CORESET do not change based on theexistence of the UL subband 803. Alternatively, the UE does not expectany RBs belonging to the CORESET to be part of the UL subband 803.

In addition to the existing conditions, if a UE is configured by higherlayer signaling to receive a PDSCH or CSI-RS in the set of symbols ofthe slot, the UE receives PDSCH or CSI-RS only if none of these symbolsare instructed to be the UL subband 803 by dynamic indication of Set 2802 that overlaps with any RB/RE carrying the PDSCH or CSI-RS.

Otherwise, the UE cancels the reception of the PDSCH or CSI-RS whencollision occurs.

In addition to the existing conditions, if a UE is dynamicallyinstructed to receive the PDSCH or CSI-RS on a set of symbols, the UEdoes not expect to receive dynamic indication of Set 2 802 indicatingany of these symbols to be the UL subband 803 when any RB/RE of PDSCH orCSI-RS overlaps with the UL subband 803.

In addition to the existing conditions, if a UE is configured by ahigher layer to transmit a PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH in the set ofsymbols of the slot, the UE performs this transmission only if none ofthese symbols are instructed to be the DL subband 804 by dynamicindication of Set 2 802 that overlaps with any RB/RE carrying the PUCCH,PUSCH, SRS or PRACH. Otherwise, the same full cancellation or partialcancelation timeline/rules as those used for DCI 2_0 for legacy NR canbe applied when collision occurs.

In addition to the existing conditions, if a UE is dynamicallyinstructed to transmit a PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH on a set of symbols,the UE does not expect to receive dynamic indication of Set 2 802indicating any of these symbols to be the DL subband 804 when any RB/REof PDSCH or CSI-RS overlaps with the UL subband 803.

For a half-duplex UE receiving the above-described two sets of slotindicators, or even for full duplex UE, at least one of the followingmay be applied.

If a set of symbols configured by higher layer signaling of Set 1 801indicates the symbols to be UL/DL and the UE is not configured toreceive DCI 2_0, or the UE is configured to receive DCI 2_0 but the setindication is not detected, the UE does not expect to receive anyindicator (RRC or DCI) from Set 2 802 for a subband configuration thatindicates that any of those symbols are the DL subband 804 or UL subband803, respectively. In other words, no conflict in the transmissiondirection can occur between the RRC indications of Set 1 801 and anyindication of Set 2 802.

However, it may be possible that any indicator (RRC or DCI) of Set 2 802can override the configuration instead of the legacy BWP to be subband.For example, if Set 1 801 indicates that a set of symbols is downlink inthe legacy BWP, the indicators of Set 2 802 can change the indication tobe the DL subband 804, instead of the legacy BWP. The same applies forthe uplink.

If a set of symbols is indicated dynamically to be UL/DL by DCI 2_0 ofSet 1 801, the UE does not expect to receive any indicator (RRC or DCI)from Set 2 802 for a subband configuration that indicates that any ofthose symbols are the DL subband 804 or UL subband 803, respectively. Inother words, no conflict in the transmission direction can occur betweenthe dynamic indication of Set 1 801 and any indication of Set 2 802.

If the RRC indications of Set 2 802 are such that any of these symbolsare the UL/DL subband, the UE may apply the indication provided by DCI2_0 of Set 1 801 and use the legacy UL/DL BWP. In other words, if staticconfigurations of Set 2 802 indicate a UL/DL subband, but the dynamicindication of Set 1 801 indicates the legacy UL/DL BWP, the UE performsthe legacy UL/DL BWP operation.

The UE does not expect the dynamic indication of Set 2 802 to indicateany of those symbols to be the UL/DL subband. In other words, it cannotbe indicated for any symbol by dynamic indication of Set 1 801 and Set 2802 to be the UL/DL BWP and UL/DL subband.

As another possibility to handle the configurations conflict (indicatinga set of symbols/slots as the DL based on the legacy DL BWP and the ULbased on UL subband, for example) between the indications of Set 1 801and Set 2 802 is to define the UE behavior and apply the indication fromone of the sets.

The indication by Set 2 802 for subband configurations may takeprecedent over the configurations provided by Set 1 801 when a conflictin the transmission direction occurs. The converse may be performed ifthe subband operation has lower priority than the legacy BWP operation,for example.

Alternatively, higher layer signaling (not DCI 2_0) of Set 1 801 forlegacy can be overridden by the DCI indication of Set 2 802 for thesubband operation. This may be applied when DCI 2_0 of Set 1 801 is notconfigured.

If DCI 2_0 of Set 1 801 is configured but not received, the UE mayprioritize the indication from one set and disregard the other set. Forexample, the UE may apply the indication from Set 1 801 and apply thelegacy behavior when DCI 2_0 is configured, but not received, on a setof symbols/slots indicated as flexible based on the legacy BWP.

Moreover, higher layer signaling of Set 2 802 for the legacy subbandoperation can be overridden by the DCI 2_0 indication of Set 1 801 forBWP operation.

If DCI 2_0 of Set 1 801 is configured but not received, the UE mayprioritize the indication from one set and disregard the other set(s).For example, the UE may apply the indication from Set 2 802 and applythe legacy behavior when DCI 2_0 is configured but not received, on aset of symbols/slots indicated as flexible based on subbandconfigurations indicated by Set 2 802.

If a set of symbols is indicated to be flexible by higher layersignaling in Set 1 801 and DCI 2_0 is not configured, or is configuredbut not detected, the UE applies the received indicator (RRC or DCI)from Set 2 802 for subband configuration. In other words, if a set ofsymbols is determined to be flexible based on the legacy procedure, theindications provided by Set 2 802 are applied and those symbols and areassumed as indicating the UL/DL subband.

If Set 2 802 also indicates that any of these symbols are flexible, thenany of the aforementioned approaches can be applied.

The UE may expect no conflict to occur at least in the transmissiondirection between different dynamic grants. For example, if dynamicPDSCH is scheduled on these flexible symbols, the UE does not expect toreceive another DCI instructing the UE to transmit a dynamic PUSCH onany sets of these symbols.

If a collision occurs between RRC downlink transmission and dynamic ULtransmission, legacy behavior can be applied in terms of canceling thedownlink reception, for example.

If a collision occurs between RRC uplink transmission and dynamic DLtransmission, legacy behavior can be applied in terms of canceling theuplink transmission of uplink, for example.

If Set 2 802 indicates that the symbols are flexible, the UE applies thelegacy behavior for the transmission and reception based on the legacyBWP.

If a set of symbols indicated to be flexible by DCI 2_0 of Set 1 801,the UE applies the received indicator (RRC or DCI) from Set 2 802 forthe subband configuration. In other words, if a set of symbols isdetermined to be flexible based on the legacy procedure, the indicationsprovided by Set 2 802 is applied and those symbols can be assumed as theUL/DL subband.

The legacy behavior is applied if DCI 2_0 of Set 2 802 also indicatesthat the symbol is flexible or has no subband. For example, the UE doesnot receive DCI on these symbols. Also, if there are no dynamic grantson these symbols, then these symbols are treated as a gap with notransmission/reception to occur on them.

If a set of symbols is indicated as a No subband operation by Set 2 802,the UE applies the legacy behavior in determining U/D/F and operatesbased on the legacy BWP.

Although in legacy NR, the symbols indicated for SSB transmission cannotbe overlap with any symbol indicated as the UL, this constraint may beunnecessary if the gNB is capable of subband full duplex operation.Therefore, Set 2 802 may indicate any of these symbols as the UL as longas RBs/REs spanned by the SSB do not overlap with RBs/REs of the ULsubband, for example.

For a set of symbols of a slot corresponding to a valid PRACH occasionand N_(gap) symbols before the valid PRACH occasion, the UE does notexpect Set 2 802 to indicate any of these symbols as the DL subband ifRBs/REs spanned by PRACH overlap with RBs/REs of the DL subband, forexample.

In general, any potential mismatch in the gNB and UE when dynamicindication of Set 1 801 or Set 2 802 is missed should be avoided. Asolution may depend on the priority order of different indications inSet 1 801 and Set 2 802, i.e., RRC of Set 1 801, DCI of Set 1 801, RRCof Set 2 802, and DCI of Set 2 802. For example, the following order maybe assumed as RRC of Set 1>RRC of Set 2>DCI of Set 1>DCI of Set 2. Thesame approach can be extended to different indication priorities. Thisordering may indicate that, e.g., DCI of Set 2 802 can only convertflexible of DCI of Set 2 802 from the legacy BWP operation to thesubband operation, but not any other symbol. In this case, the failsafemechanism would be that, when the UE misses the DCI of Set 1 801, the UEassumes that all flexible symbols are unavailable for subbandtransmissions indicated by higher layer signaling. The essence of thissolution is that if symbols are indicated as flexible symbols and DCI isconfigured but not received, the legacy monitoring behavior is applied.Such application based on the legacy BWP or subband depends on thepriority order.

If the indicators of Set 2 802 instruct a UE to consider that a set ofsymbols/slots are flexible and the UE receives DCI 2_0 for Set 2 802,then the same rules as those applied when the UE is provided withflexible symbols and detected DCI 2_0 can be applied to determine the UEbehavior regarding the transmission/reception, but based on the confinesof the bandwidth of the UL/DL subband. The same approach applies whenDCI 2_0 for Set 2 802 is undetected.

When the subband is shared by multiple UEs, and if a particular UE hasno UL transmission or DL reception in a UL or DL subband, other UEs mayhave such UL transmission or DL reception. In this case, if that UE isconfigured by higher layer signaling to transmit or receive on a legacyDL BWP or UL BWP, and that transmission or reception partially or fullyoverlaps in the frequency domain with the configured UL or DL subband,the gNB will be unable to handle both transmission directions under thenon-overlapping UL/DL subband framework. Therefore, if a UE isconfigured or expects to receive UL/DL subband configurations by any ofthe indicators in Set 2 802, such as a GC-PDCCH or by any other means,and the UE has yet to detect the indicators, the UE may skip thereception or cancel the transmission of grants configured by higherlayer signaling according to a particular timeline and depending on UEcapability in the legacy DL or UL BWP, if those grants partially orfully overlap with the RBs for the UL or DL subband.

This rule may be applied irrespective of whether there is such anoverlap. This may be beneficial if the UE is aware that there is asubband, but still does not know its frequency domain location.

This solution may also be applied if the subband configurations areindicated by other aforementioned solutions. For example, ifUL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and/or tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated and/orDCI format 2_0 are modified to carry subband configurations, and haveyet to be received or detected, the UE may skip the reception or thetransmission of grants configured by higher layer signaling in thelegacy DL or UL BWP, as previously described.

To provide the gNB with additional flexibility, the gNB nay indicatewhether the skipping of the reception or the transmission of grantsconfigured by higher layer signaling in the legacy DL or UL BWP, asdescribed above, will be applied. For example, higher layer signaling,such as an RRC parameter sharedSubband, can be used to inform the UEwhether the subband is shared by other UEs. If the subband is sharedwith other UEs, then the skipping can be applied even if there is noactive conflict. If the subband is not shared with other UEs, the otheraforementioned solutions can be applied which are based on cancellationup on the occurrence of the actual conflict.

The indicators of Set 2 802 indicate whether legacy BWP or subband is tobe applied, while the direction of the transmission (UL or DL) isdetermined based on the indications from Set 1 801. To this end,disclosed is a new field provided by RRC or DCI, i.e., a bitmapindicating which symbols/slots are used as a legacy BWP or subband,while DL or UL is determined based on the existing slot format indicatorsuch as indicators of Set 1 801 or any other procedure, such as theopposite transmission direction of that provided by Set 1 801. Forexample, 0 may indicate the subband and 1 may indicate the legacy BWP,where each bit has a certain granularity extending from one symbol tomultiple symbols, slots, subframes, etc. Also, the indicators of Set 2802 may indicate the number and location of symbols/slots to be used assubband or legacy BWP similar to the aforementioned procedures, while DLor UL is determined based on the existing slot format indicator such asthose of Set 1 801 or any other procedure.

FIG. 9 is a graph 900 illustrating an indicator Set 2 as a bitmapindicating the presence of a UL subband, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9 , Set 1 901 provides the UE with DDDDU for slot 0903, slot 1 904, slot 2 905, slot 3 906 and slot 4 907, respectively.Concurrently, Set 2 902 provides the UE with the following bitmap 10001corresponding to slots 0-4 903-907, respectively. In this case, the UEmay assume the presence of the UL subband 908 in slots 1-3, as theopposite transmission direction of is the DL indicated by Set 1 901. Thelocation of the subband may be configured as described in thisdisclosure.

A BWP or carrier may be divided into multiple subbands. The sameapproach used to define to define the subbands and their guard band,known as RB sets, for NR-U may be used. In this case, a separate Set 2902 may be used for each RB set to indicate whether to follow theindication from Set 1 901 as a legacy BWP or the opposite transmissiondirection as the subband from Set 2 902, for example.

FIG. 10 is a graph 1000 illustrating a legacy DL BWP 1003 and UL BWP1004 being divided into four RB sets, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 10 , Set 2 1002 individually indicates whether thesubband or legacy BWP applies for each RB set. This approach providesthe gNB with further flexibility in determining the size of the ULsubband from one slot to another.

To reduce the field size, a table of different configurations may onlyindicate subband or legacy BWP. The DL or UL is determined based on theexisting slot format indicator or any other procedure. The new fieldthen points to the index of one of these rows. This can be similar tothe manner in which SFI-index is defined but is used to indicate whetherthe legacy BWP or subband may be applied. The indication granularity canextend from one symbol to multiple symbols, slots, subframes, etc.

When there are multiple RB sets within the legacy DL/UL BWP, thesignaling of Set 2 1002 may be through any combination of the following.

Table 3 below illustrates a new RRC parameter to be included intdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated for RRC based signaling.

TABLE 3 TDD-UL-DL-SlotConfig ::=   SEQUENCE {  slotIndexTDD-UL-DL-SlotIndex,  symbols CHOICE {  allDownlink   NULL,  allUplink NULL,   SlotSubband-bitmap     BIT Sring (SIZE(1..maxNrofRB-Sets-r17)),  explicit  SEQUENCE {   nrofDownlinkSymbols   INTEGER    (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL, -- Need S  ULSubbandSymbols    BIT Sring (SIZE    (1..maxNrofRB-Sets-r17)),OPTIONAL, -- Need S    nrofUplinkSymbols     INTEGER    (1..maxNrofSymbols−1) OPTIONAL -- Need S   DLSubbandSymbols    BITSring (SIZE    (1..maxNrofRB-Sets-r17)), OPTIONAL, -- Need S }

In Table 3, each bit in SlotSubband-bitmap corresponds to one of theconfigured RB sets within the slot identified by slotIndex. If the bitcorresponding to a particular RB set is set to 1, the UE applies theindicated transmission direction indicated by Set 1 and assumes thatthis RB set belongs to the legacy DL/UL BWP. If the bit corresponding toa particular RB set is set to 0, the UE assumes that this RB set is thesubband with the opposite transmission direction to that indicated bySet 1.

For the symbol level indication, similar RRC parameters may be used forindicating which RB set is used as a DL/UL subband as byULSubbandSymbols and ULSubbandSymbols. Specifically, each bit inULSubbandSymbols corresponds to one of the configured RB sets within theslot identified by slotIndex. For the symbols indicated as the DL by alegacy RRC parameter, i.e., by nrofDownlinkSymbols, if the bitcorresponding to a particular RB set is set to 0, the UE assumes thatthis RB set is the UL subband.

Although the new RRC parameters are includedtdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, these parameters can also be includedin a separate RRC IE.

For DCI based indication, an approach similar to SFI indication in DCI2_0 may be used with the following modifications. For particular timedomain granularity, e.g., slot level, the gNB may provide, e.g., viaRRC, the UE with a table of different bitmaps for each time domain unit(slot) or such a table predefined in ae specification. Each bit in thebitmap corresponds to a particular RB set indicating whether the legacyBWP indication based on Set 1 or the subband in the opposite directionto that indicated by Set 1 is being followed.

Thereafter, the gNB may use GC-PDCCH, e.g., DCI 2_0, to indicate theindex of combinations to be applied. As described above, this indicationcan be carried in DCI 2_0 and the field position in the DCI is indicatedby higher layer signaling, or a new DCI format may be used withdifferent scrambling RNTI. The size of the field is determined based onthe number of configured combinations.

Regarding the time domain applicability, similar rules to SFI may beapplied. For example, the indicated combinations should cover a timeperiod greater than or equal to the GC-PDCCH monitoring periodicity. Theindication applies starting from the slot where the UE detects theGC-PDCCH. Table 4 below illustrates subband combinations for RB sets ina bitmap.

TABLE 4 Combination index Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Slot 4 . . . 0 BIT Sring(SIZE (1 . . . maxNrofRB- Sets-r17)), 1 BIT Sring (SIZE (1 . . .maxNrofRB- Sets-r17)), 2 BIT Sring (SIZE BIT Sring (SIZE BIT Sring (SIZEBIT Sring (SIZE (1 . . . maxNrofRB- (1 . . . maxNrofRB- (1 . . .maxNrofRB- (1 . . . maxNrofRB- Sets-r17)), Sets-r17)), Sets-r17)),Sets-r17)), . . .

The bitmap illustrated in Table 4 is equivalent to indicating whetherthe RB set in the frequency domain is the DL or UL.

Alternatively, a single set of symbol/slot format indicators may be usedto separately indicate the transmission direction for each RB set. ForRRC based indication, on the top of legacy signaling, e.g.,tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, the gNB may indicate to the UE towhich RB set the indicated D, U, or F is to be applied, via a new RRCsignaling indicating the applicable RB set. The UE may apply the cellspecific slot format indication, i.e., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon,until the reception of dedicated signaling for each configured RB set.For DCI based indication, either separate GC-PDCCH for each RB set istransmitted to indicate the applied slot format, or to indicate the sameDCI but by use of a different field. For the former case, GC-PDCCH foreach RB set may be scrambled with different RNTI and may have differentmonitoring occasions, for example.

The aforementioned embodiments may be applied irrespective of the mannerin which the UL/DL subband is indicated.

According to an embodiment, being applied by either half duplex or fullduplex UE, indications provided by Set 2 are only applied to theflexible symbols as provided by the indicators of Set 1. The UE maydisregard the indications provided by Set 2 when a conflict in thetransmission direction occurs on symbols/slots indicated as D or U byindicators Set 1, or the UE may not expect the occurrence of such aconflict.

Turn subband on/off

In the aforementioned embodiments, a gNB can turn on/off the subbandbased on the configurations. For example, if no configurations areprovided or the configurations are released, the subband operation maybe disabled. Thus, it may be beneficial to provide the gNB with tools toturn on/off subband operation explicitly to avoid any potentialambiguity between the UE and gNB.

To that effect, disclosed herein are new values to be added toabove-described Table 11.1.1-1 in TS 38.213, indicating the subbandoperation is off when DCI 2_0 is indicated as being in the off state.Alternatively, one bit field in GC-PDCCH, such as DCI 2_0, orUE-specific DCI indicates whether subband operation is on/off. Forexample, if the bit field is set to one/zero, subband operation ison/off, respectively. Also, on/off subband operation may be based ontoggling of this bit. Alternatively, a MAC-CE can be used to turn on/offthe subband operation. A timeline can be applied to determine when theindication may be applied. For example, when there is a MAC-CEindication, the new configurations may be applied in the first slotafter slot n+3N_(slot) ^(subframe,μ) where n is the slot for HARQ-Ack ofMAC-CE. For using DCI, the new configurations may be applied in thefirst symbol after n symbols from the last symbols of the CORESETcarrying this DCI, for example, where n can be predefined in aspecification, indicated by the UE as part of its capability signaling,or configured by higher layer signaling. To provide the gNB with furtherflexibility, the gNB may be indicated when the UL subband is to beturned off in the future. For example, the gNB may use a start andlength indicator (SLIV)-like approach to indicate when the UL subband isto be cancelled.

For example, the gNB may use the configured TDRA table to indicate theslot at which the subband is to be turned on/off based on the K0 value.The start “S” may indicate in which symbol the UL subband is to beturned on/off. The UE may disregard the indicated length such that theUL subband remains on/off until receiving a new indication orconfigurations. Alternatively, the UE may interpret the length as theduration at which the UL subband is on/off. After the end of thisduration, the UL subband returns to the previous state before receivingthe on/off indication.

The UE may be configured with a separate TDRA table than the one usedfor scheduling the PDSCH or PUSCH. Alternatively, the UL subbandindication may carry a separate indication for the start or length atwhich the indication is applied. For example, the multiple candidatestart locations (e.g., slot or symbol) and duration can be configuredvia or provided by higher layer signaling. Then, dynamic signaling suchas MAC-CE or DCI can be used to separately indicate the start and lengthby separate fields, for example. The gNB can turn on/off the subbandoperation either statically by an RRC, semi-statically by a MAC-CE, ordynamically by DCI.

Indicating that the UL subband is off is also beneficial to allow the UEto cancel the UL transmission that was intended to be transmitted in theUL subband either dynamically or as configured. For example, the UEbeing configured to transmit a configured UL grant type 1 or type 2 inthe UL subband, and receiving indication that UL subband is canceled,may be equivalent to the UE receiving a release command for configuredUL grant type 1 or deactivation DCI for UL grant type 2. When the gNBturns on the UL subband either by using a 1-bit field or by transmittinga new configuration for the UL subband, a new activation orconfiguration is needed for the configured UL grant. While this exampleconcerns the configured grant, this example can apply to anotherperiodic or semi-persistent UL transmission such as P-SRS, SP-SRS, andRACH occasions in the UL subband.

The UE may consider the RACH occasions configured in the UL subband asinvalid when the gNB turns off the UL subband.

This solution may also be applied to dynamic UL transmission.Specifically, after the UE receives the dynamic UL grant, e.g., thescheduling DCI, the UE receives an indication of cancelling the ULsubband before receiving the scheduled UL grant. In this case, the UEmay cancel the transmission of the UL grant if the UL subbandcancellation is received early enough relative to the dynamic grantitself. A particular timeline may be predefined in the specification.For example, at least n symbols should separate the last symbol carryingthe UL subband cancelation indication to the first symbol of the dynamicgrant. Also, the UE may provide the gNB with the value of n as part ofits capability signaling. Another possible timeline may be similar tothe cancellation timeline/capability in case of a conflict between anRRC UL transmission and dynamic DL reception for either full or partialcancellation.

Moreover, the UE may indicate to the gNB whether it supportscancellation of the UL transmission configured by higher layer signalingor dynamically.

To simplify the UE implementation, the UE may not expect to receive a ULsubband cancellation indication before transmitting the dynamicallyscheduled/triggered UL transmission.

For UL transmission with multiple repetitions such as the PUSCH with aconfigured aggregation factor, some repetitions may fall with the ULsubband. The UL subband may be cancelled before the completion of allrepetitions. In this case, the UE may transmit the repetitions that fallwithin the UL subband before being cancelled. A timeline between the ULsubband cancellation indication and UL transmission, or between when theUL subband is supposed to be cancelled and UL transmission, is needed toensure that the UE has enough time to cancel the UL transmission. Whenthe UL subband is turned off, the UE may apply the slot format indicatedby the legacy slot format indicator or by the slot format indicatorbased on Set 1 described herein. In this case, the UE may apply theconfigurations associated with the DL BWP.

Updating Subband Configuration when BWP Switching Occurs

The association between UL/DL subband and UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP may berealized using explicit or implicit methods.

One possibility for the explicit association is that the UL/DL subbandwith a particular ID configured through higher layer signaling, such asRRC parameter subband_Id, is associated with UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP thathas the same BWP Id. It is noted that for a non-initial UL/DL BWP, theBWP ID is provided by bwp-Id in BWP Downlink or BWP-Uplink IE. For aninitial UL/DL BWP, the BWP ID is zero and is not provided by bwp-Id.Therefore, if the ID of the UL/DL subband is zero, then it is associatedwith the initial UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP.

The UL/DL subband and UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP that have the same ID areassociated together.

Another method of the explicit association is that the configurations ofthe UL/DL subband, such as start and length, are provided as part of theconfigurations of the BWP with which the UL/DL subband is to beassociated. As such, the gNB may not need to signal the subband ID,which may reduce the signaling overhead. For example, the start andlength of the UL/DL subband may be provided as part of theconfigurations of the BWP to be associated with such as BWP-Downlink,BWP-Downlinkdedicated, BWP-Uplink, BWP-Uplinkdedicated, pdsch-config,pusch-config, etc.

The UL/DL subband and UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP are associated togetherwhen the configurations of the UL/DL subband are provided as part ofthat BWP.

However, the implicit association may also be based on confinement.Specifically, if UL/DL subband spans a set of RBs that is confinedwithin a configured/active DL/UL BWP or UL/DL BWP, these subbands andBWPs are considered to be associated to reduce the signaling overhead.If the UL/DL subband spans a set of RBs that is confined in multipleDL/UL BWPs, the association can be determined based on predefined rules,such as whether the BWP type is for the uplink or downlink, and thenperformed based on the BWP ID.

In legacy NR, when the DL BWP and UL BWP have the same ID, they arepaired and a UE expects them to have the same center frequency. In thiscase, BWP switching occurs for both DL and UL. When BWP switchingoccurs, the UL/DL subband may switch with the associated UL/DL BWP orDL/UL BWP, as the following will describe.

FIG. 11 is a graph 1100 illustrating a UL subband associated with a ULBWP, according to an embodiment. Specifically, a used subband in FIG. 11is determined based on the associated active UL BWP.

Referring to FIG. 11 , three DL BWPs are configured and only two UL BWPsare configured and only DL or UL BWP is active at any time. In Scenario1 1101, DL BWP #2 1104 and UL BWP #2 1105 are active and both have thesame center frequency. The UL subband associated with UL BWP #2 1105 isused on symbols/slots based on the indicated slot format as explainedabove, or by any other method.

In Scenario 2 1102, a UE performs BWP switching, i.e., deactivates DLBWP #2 1106 and activates DL BWP #1 1107. The same occurs with respectto the UL BWP, i.e., the UE switches from UL BWP #2 1108 to UL BWP #11109. This is performed since {DL BWP #2 1106 and UL BWP #2 1108} arepaired, so when BWP switching occurs, the UE activates {DL BWP #1 1107and UL BWP #1 1109} since they are also paired. In this case, the ULsubband associated with UL BWP #1 1109 is used based on symbols/slotsper the indicated slot format as explained above, or by any othersuitable method.

In Scenario 3 1103, DL BWP #3 1111 is unpaired with any UL BWP. In thiscase, when the UE switches from DL BWP #1 1110 to DL BWP #3 1111, theactive UL BWP remains UL BWP #1 1112. Consequently, the UL subbandassociated with UL BWP #1 1112 is used based on symbols/slots based onthe indicated slot format as explained above, or by any other method.

The UL/DL subband switches with the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWPwhen BWP switching occurs.

Within the UL/DL subband, the UE may apply PUSCH-Config/PDSCH-Config,PUCCH-Config/PDCCH-Config, etc., provided for the associated UL/DL BWP.In this case, the UE may need to determine how to interpret thedifferent configurations related to the frequency domain because theUL/DL subband may have a different start and end compared with theassociated UL/DL BWP.

For example, the frequency domain location CORESET is provided bybitmap, via frequencyDomainResources, where each bit corresponds to agroup of 6 RBs where the grouping is performed relative to a commonresource block (CRB). If the group of 6 RBs is not fully contained inthe associated DL BWP, the corresponding bit may be set to zero. Whenapplying the same frequencyDomainResources to the associated DL subband,some bits may be set to one, though the associated group of 6 RBs is notincluded in the DL subband.

To handle this situation, at least one of the following may be applied.

frequencyDomainResources is interpreted relative to the beginning of theDL subband, instead of N_(BWP) ^(start). In other words, the first (mostsignificant) bit corresponds to a group of 6 RBs where the first CRB ofthe first one is given by 6. ┌N_(DLsubband) ^(start)/6┐, whereN_(DL subband) ^(start) is the common RB index of first RB in the DLsubband. The UE does not expect any bit to be set to 1, if itcorresponds to a group of RBs that does not belong to the DL subband.

Imposing such a constraint that the UE does not expect any bit to be setto 1, if it corresponds to a group of RBs that does not belong to the DLsubband may be restrictive as the same bitmap is used for the legacy DLBWP. To relax this constraint, the UE may disregard the bits that areset to one when they correspond to a group of 6 RBs not fully containedwithin the DL subband.

To further enhance the alignment between the bitmap and DL subband, thefirst common RB of the first group of 6 RBs has common RB indexN_(DL subband) ^(start)+N_(RB) ^(offset, DL subband) where is N_(RB)^(offset, DL subband) is provided by higher layer signaling. If notprovided, the UE may apply rb-Offset of the associated DL BWP.

Alternatively, frequencyDomainResources may be interpreted relative tothe DL BWP and only the groups of 6 RBs that overlap with the associatedDL subband belong to the CORESET with the DL subband.

Another example relates to inheriting a PUCCH-Config from the associatedUL BWP. Specifically, the gNB can configure the UE with the index of afirst RB of a PUCCH by startingPRB, the number of allocated RBs bynrofPRBs when applicable depending on PUCCH format, the index of firstRB after hopping by secondHopPRB, etc. Also, a PUCCH location in thefrequency domain is determined based on some rules depending on the ULBWP size when using pucch-ResoruceCommon.

To allow the UE to inherit such configurations to the UL subband, atleast one of the following may be applied.

The UE may apply the same rules but replace N_(BWP) ^(size) of the ULBWP with the size of the associated UL subband.

For startingPRB and secondHopPRB, the UE assumes that these indicate anRB index within the UL subband where the first PRB in the UL subband iszero.

The startingPRB and secondHopPRB may be beyond the boundaries of the ULsubband. In this case, some rules may be applied to translate thesevalues to valid RBs within the UL subband. As one possibility, the firstPRB for a first PUCCH may be given by mod startingPRB, the size of theUL subband, and the first PRB for a second PUCCH hop may be given by modsecondHopPRB, the size of the UL subband. Alternatively, the gNB mayprovide the UE with an offset to be applied to the indicated PRB ofPUCCH within the UL subband. This offset may be provided by higher layersignaling.

For the nrofPRBs, the UE may expect the same value to be applied and theresultant PUCCH location is fully confined within the UL subband. Torelax this constraint, the gNB may configure the UE with an offset valueto be applied when the PUCCH is transmitted in the UL subband.

Separate PUSCH-Config/PDSCH-Config, PUCCH-Config/PDCCH-Config, etc., forthe UL/DL subband may be provided, if the UL/DL subband is associatedwith the DL/UL BWP, respectively, or even when the UL/DL subband isassociated with UL/DL BWP, respectively. Separate configurations implythat a set of RRC parameters can be separately configured while theremaining RRC parameters are inherited. For example, separatefrequencyDomainResources, startingPRB, secondHopPRB, nrofPRBs, etc., maybe configured.

When the PUCCH is repeated across multiple slots including some whichshould be used as the UL subband and others to be used in the legacy ULBWP, if the UE is provided with a single PUCCH-Config, different PUCCHparameters needs to be translated to be valid when PUCCH repetition istransmitted in the UL subband. In this case, the aforementioned schemesto adjust the different parameters, such as startingPRB, secondHopPRB,and nrofPRBs, may be applied on the repetitions transmitted in the ULsubband. For PUCCH repetitions transmitted in the legacy BWP, thecorresponding parameters are applied without any modification.

When separate PUCCH-Configs are provided for the PUCCH in the UL subbandand legacy UL BWP, the location of PUCCH repetition determines whichPUCCH-Config should be applied. Specifically, for PUCCH repetitions thatfall in the UL subband, the PUCCH-Config associated with the UL subbandshould be applied. For the remaining PUCCH repetitions that fall in thelegacy UL BWP, the PUCCH-Config associated with legacy UL BWP should beapplied. This may or may not apply for different parameters related tofrequency hopping. This applies for different procedures associated withthe PUCCH. For example, when frequency hopping is configured, then forthe PUCCH falling in the UL subband, the frequency hopping occursaccording to PUCCH-Config associated with the UL subband. The same isapplied for the PUCCH in the legacy UL BWP.

The UE may indicate to the gNB via capability signaling whether itsupports transmitting PUCCH repetitions in slots/subslots falling in adifferent UL subband and legacy UL BWP where different PUCCH-Configs areapplied or a single PUCCH-Config is applied and the parameters aretransferred from those used by the legacy UL BWP to those used by the ULsubband. The UE may indicate that the same PUCCH-Config is applied forall PUCCH repetitions without any transformation. In this case, the UEexpects that all parameters are valid for slots/subslots in the ULsubband or legacy UL BWP.

For the UL/DL subband, use the same PUSCH-Config/PDSCH-Config as thatprovided for the associated UL/DL BWP, respectively.

If the UL/DL subband is associated with DL/UL BWP, respectively, aseparate PUSCH-Config/PDSCH-Config is provided.

The developed solutions can also apply to RRC connected UEs and RRCidle/inactive UEs.

Optimization for Scheduling

Since the bandwidth of the UL/DL subband is expected to be much smallerthan the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP, the following enhancementfor the scheduling procedures is disclosed.

An RBG, a PRG, a VRB bundle, and a PRB bundle may be defined as arelative CRB based on the starting point and length of the UL/DL subbandand independent of the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP. The sameprocedure used to determine these quantities in the legacy UL/DL BWP canbe applied for the UL/DL subband. Consequently, the first and last RBG,PRG, VRB bundle and PRB bundle may have fewer RBs than the remaining RBsin the UL/DL subband.

An RBG, a PRG, a VRB bundle, and a PRB bundle within the UL/DL subbandare defined similar to the legacy UL/DL BWP but are also definedrelative the CRB based on the beginning point and length of the UL/DLsubband.

The size of the RBG, the PRG, the VRB bundle, and PRB bundle of a UL/DLsubband may be signaled separately from the corresponding parameters ofthe associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP. If not provided, the UE may applythe same parameters of the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP.

The corresponding parameters of the RBG, the PRG, the VRB bundle, andthe PRB bundle within the UL/DL subband may be signaled/determinedseparately from the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP. Otherwise, theparameters of the associated UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP can be applied.

The frequency indicator can be interpreted relative to the UL/DL subbandand may include the frequency domain resource assignment FDRA field ofthe scheduling DCI, frequencyDomainAllocation RRC parameter of a ULconfigured grant, or PUSCH frequency resource allocation in RAR Msg2.Therefore, the bitlength of frequency indicator for the UL/DL subband isexpected to be less than the corresponding field in regular active UL/DLBWP. This may be beneficial to further reduce the DCI payload andenhance payload reliability.

A frequency indicator of PUSCH/PDSCH within the UL/DL subband isinterpreted relative to the start and length of the UL/DL subband.

A UE can infer whether to interpret the frequency indicator based on thebandwidth of a legacy UL/DL BWP or the bandwidth of the UL/DL subband.One approach is based on confinement in time domain.

FIG. 12 is a graph 1200 illustrating an FDRA interpreted based on a ULsubband and a legacy UL BWP, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12 , if symbols spanned by a scheduled PUSCH/PDSCH arefully confined within the symbols indicated/determined to be part of theUL/DL subband as described herein, the UE may interrupt the frequencyindicator based on the UL/DL subband 1202, or vice versa for the legacyUL/DL BWP.

As illustrated in FIG. 12 , PUSCH #1 1203 is fully confined withinsymbols that are indicated to be used as the UL subband 1202, whilePUSCH #2 1204 is fully confined within symbols that are indicated to beused as a legacy UL BWP 1205. In this case, the UE interprets the FDRAin PDCCH scheduling PUSCH #1 1203 and PUSCH #2 1204 based on theconfigured UL subband 1202 and legacy UL BWP 1205, respectively.

If the PUSCH/PDSCH partially overlap with symbols that are indicated asthe UL/DL subband, respectively, the frequency indicator can bedetermined based on some rules. For example, the frequency indicator isinterpreted based on the UL/DL subband, or based on the number ofsymbols indicated as the UL/DL subband. For example, if most of thesymbols of PUSCH/PDSCH are indicated as the UL/DL subband, respectively,the UE interpret frequency indicator based on the UL/DL subband.

The confinement-based solution to determine the interpretation of thefrequency indicator can be extended to when the PUSCH/PDSCH is repeated.For example, the determination may be based on the first PUSCH/PDSCHrepetition, or on the confinement of every repetition of thePUSCH/PDSCH.

Based on the symbols spanned by the PUSCH/PDSCH, the UE can determinehow to interpret the frequency indicator based on the UL/DL subband orUL/DL BWP.

The FDRA field size may be fixed irrespective of whether the PUSCH/PDSCHis confined within the UL/DL subband or a legacy UL/DL BWP and may beequal to the maximum bitwidth among the bitwidth of FDRA fields of thelegacy BWP or subband. However, the number of useful information bitsand their interpretation depends on whether the scheduling is within thesubband or legacy BWP. For example, if a PUSCH/PDSCH is scheduled in aUL/DL subband, only the least significant bits of the FDRA field areused and are interpreted relative to the beginning and length of thesubband. This approach is beneficial by reducing the number differentDCI sizes and to satisfy the DCI budget and size constraints. Also, afixed size of the FDRA field, enables the UE to first interpret the TDRAfield to determine whether the grant is confined within a subband or alegacy BWP and then determine how to interpret the FDRA field.

The size of FDRA field is fixed irrespective of whether the grant iswithin the subband or legacy BWP, but the information bits within thefield depends on the grant location in the time domain.

The CRC of the scheduling DCI within the UL/DL subband may be scrambledwith different RNTI from the one used for scheduling in the legacy UL/DLBWP. This enables the UE to know whether the subband or legacy BWP is tobe used even before mapping the grant to certain time resources.Alternatively, the search space for scheduling DCI within the UL/DLsubband may differ from the search space used for scheduling withinlegacy UL/DL BWP. This may be realized by introducing a new search spaceor defining a flag by higher layer signaling within the search spaceconfigurations, such as RRC parameter purpose which can be set for thesubband or legacy BWP, for example.

Use of different RNTI or monitoring occasions to indicate to the UE howto interpret FDRA field is performed as follows.

UL/DL Subband as a BWP

Configurations and signaling

A UL/DL subband may be configured to be based on a BWP framework. Thismay be advantageous because the signaling of the start and bandwidth ofthe UL/DL subband can be inherited from legacy BWP configurations inaddition to other configurations for the DL reception and ULtransmission. The above embodiments can be easily extended and appliedto when the UL/DL subband is defined based on a BWP framework.

A UL/DL subband is defined as a BWP. Its frequency domain position isdetermined using the same procedure as that used for defining the legacyBWP.

The above embodiments can be easily extended or applied to define whenthe UL/DL subband based on the BWP framework starts/ends. For example,the introduction of the subband for the UL (SU) and subband for the DL(SD) in addition to D/F/U in RRC signaling or GC-PDCCH can be appliedwhen the UL/DL subband is defined based on the BWP framework. Also, theusage of two overlaying slot format indicator sets can be applied inthis case.

Determining the UE behavior when configuration conflicts of the UL/DLsubband exist based on the BWP framework can be similar to theaforementioned solutions when the UL/DL subband is defined as a region.

For the UL/DL subband defined based on the BWP framework, theindications of which symbols/slots to be used as the UL/DL subband canbe identical to the indication disclosed for when the UL/DL subbanddefined as a region.

In legacy NR, the maximum number of configured BWPs is four. This may berestrictive of regular UL/DL BWP and UL/DL subband based on the BWPframework counted towards this limit. This issue is addressed herein byincreasing the maximum number of configured BWPs subject to UEcapability. The UE may indicate how many additional configured BWPs canbe supported as part of its capability report.

Alternatively, the configured BWPs used as the UL/DL subband are countedseparately from the legacy configured UL/DL BWP. For example, themaximum number of configured BWPs for the usage as the UL/DL subband canbe four, in addition to the four BWPs for the legacy UL/DL BWP, subjectto UE capability. Specifically, the UE may indicate in its capabilitysignaling the maximum number of BWPs used as UL/DL subbands.

The gNB may indicate the purpose of the BWP through higher layersignaling, such as RRC parameter purpose which can be set for subband orlegacy BWP, for example. In this case, the BWP ID for two BWPs can bethe same, but may have a different purpose. For example, the gNB mayconfigure UL BWP #1 as a legacy UL BWP in the legacy NR and UL BWP #1 asthe UL subband.

Alternatively, irrespective of whether UL BWP is used as a legacy UL BWPor as the UL subband, the BWP IDs cannot be identical. The same appliesfor the DL BWP.

Through higher layer signaling, a gNB can indicate the purpose of a BWPas a legacy BWP based on legacy NR or as a subband.

The UL/DL subband based on BWP framework can be associated with a legacyUL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP as described herein for the UL/DL subband definedas a region. For example, UL BWP used as subband is associated with ULBWP used as a legacy BWP if they have the same ID. When the BWP ID canbe repeated irrespective of the purpose of the BWP, the association canbe determined based on some rules. For example, BWP IDs 1-4 are used forthe legacy UL BWP where the maximum number that can be configured is 4,and BWP IDs 5-6 are used for the BWP used as the UL subband, where themaximum number that can be configured is 2, and the pair {BWP ID #1 andBWP ID #5} and {BWP ID #2 and BWP ID #6} are associated. Alternatively,this rule may be the “mod” operation. Specifically, if the BWP ID basedon the legacy BWP is x and the BWP ID used as the subband is y, thenboth BWPs are associated when x=mod (y, maximum number of subbands) whenmod (y, maximum number of subbands)≠0, otherwise, x=y/maximum number ofthe subband. Approaches based on confinement, as described above, mayalso be used.

When the UL/DL subband (defined as a BWP or a region, for example) isassociated with a legacy BWP, some restrictions may apply. For example,the UE may assume that they have the same center frequency and apply thesame numerology.

The association between UL/DL subband based on BWP framework and regular(UL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP) can be similar to the association proceduredescribed to associate UL/DL subband defined a region with a legacyUL/DL BWP or DL/UL BWP.

When a UE switches from a UL/DL to a DL/UL, respectively, or switchesbetween different BWPs, even if both the old BWP and the new BWP areused for transmission or reception, there is a gap in which the UEcannot transmit or receive. For the UL/DL subband that is associatedwith a legacy UL/DL BWP, respectively, the switching gap can be reducedbased on their relative locations in the frequency domain. Thisswitching gap can be less than what is currently specified.

For example, if the UL/DL subband and its associated legacy UL/DL BWP,respectively, have the same center frequency and/or same numerology,then the switching time can be significantly reduced or become zero.

If the center frequencies of the UL/DL subband and its associated legacyUL/DL BWP, respectively, are not aligned, but the UL/DL subband spans aset of RBs that is fully confined within the associated UL/DL BWP, thenthe switching time may increase and depend on the offset amount betweenthe two center frequencies.

Alternatively, the switching gap between the UL/DL subband and itsassociated legacy UL/DL BWP may not depend on their relative locationsin the frequency domain.

The UE may indicate to the gNB, such as via its capability signaling,whether it supports switching between BWPs having any of the aboveconstraints with a reduced switching gap compared with switching betweenany arbitrary BWPs.

FIG. 13 is a graph 1300 illustrating a time gap when switching from a ULsubband to a legacy UL BWP, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 13 , switching gaps 1304 are 1305 are utilized whenswitching from the UL/DL subband to the associated UL/DL legacy BWP. Theswitching gap enables the UE to adjust its radio frequency front endbased on the frequency of the new BWP.

In legacy NR, for a paired DL BWP 1301 and UL BWP 1302 by having thesame ID, a UE expects the pair to have the same center frequency and BWPswitching is common for both the DL and UL. With the disclosed UL/DLsubband based on the BWP framework, the pairing can be further extendedto join three or more BWPs together.

In this case, if any of the paired DL BWP 1301 and UL BWP 1302 isassociated with the UL/DL subband (UL subband 1303 in FIG. 13 ), thenall of the DL BWP 1301, UL BWP 1302, and UL/DL subband 1303 are assumedto be paired together and the UE anticipates that they will have thesame center frequency. When BWP switching occurs, it applies to each ofthe DL BWP 1301, UL BWP 1302, and UL/DL subband 1303. The same disclosedsolutions for when the UL/DL subband is defined as a region can beapplied here, as well.

Since UL/DL subband is defined using the BWP framework, the schedulingprocedures follow the legacy approach and the BWP indicator field canidentify which BWP is to be used. If the BWP IDs are not repeated, thebitlength may need to be increased to accommodate the scheduling in thelegacy BWP and UL/DL subband based on the BWP framework.

If the same BWP ID can be used for the legacy BWP and subband operation,then solutions similar to those described above can be used to enablethe UE to determine whether the scheduling is for the legacy BWP or thesubband. For example, different RNTI and monitoring occasions can beused.

Also, in the symbols/slots indicated as the UL or DL for the UL or DLsubband based on the BWP framework, respectively, the UE may apply theconfigurations associated with the UL or DL. For example, for PDCCHmonitoring in the DL subband, the UE may apply PDCCH-Config provided aspart of the DL subband. The same can be applied for differentconfiguration IEs such as PDSCH-Config, PUSCH-Config, etc.

To further utilize the existing BWP switching framework, scheduling ornon-scheduling DCI may provide multiple BWP IDs for multiple possibleswitching points in the future. For scheduling DCI, there may be twobandwidth part indicator fields wherein the first field indicates oneBWP ID to be used based on legacy procedures and the second fieldindicates the other BWP ID to be used based on legacy slot formatindication or any other procedure indicating the slot format.

FIG. 14 is a graph 1400 illustrating scheduling of DCI indicatingmultiple BWP IDs for multiple switch points, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 14 , DCI 1403 points to a legacy DL BWP 1401 carryinga PDSCH 1402 by a first bandwidth part indicator field. This DL BWP IDis applied for all contiguous symbols that are indicated as the DL basedon legacy slot format indication. The second bandwidth part indicatorfield in DCI 1403 points to the DL BWP ID 1405 that is used as the DLsubband in the subsequent contiguous symbols/slots indicated as the DLsubband based on the indicated slot format indication provided herein orany other suitable means.

Similarly, DCI 1403 indicates to the UL BWP ID that is used as the ULsubband by first bandwidth part indicator field. This UL BWP ID isapplied for all contiguous symbols that are indicated as the UL based onthe indicated slot format indication. The second bandwidth partindicator field in DCI 1403 points to the UL BWP ID that is used as alegacy UL BWP in the subsequent contiguous symbols/slots indicated asthe UL based on the indicated slot format indication.

The indicated subband configurations can be repeated in the UL-DLpattern period and can be updated by DCI 2_0 or by other schedulingDCIs.

If the UL-DL pattern period has more than two contiguous sets ofsymbols/slots, then the indication of whether the legacy BWP or subbandby the last DCI can be cycled or the last indication is applied.

Though in FIG. 14 , the scheduling DCI may have two bandwidth partindicator fields, there can be more than two. The number of these fieldscan be configured by higher layer signaling.

For non-scheduling DCI, such DCI 2_0, a new field is introduced toindicate the BWP ID associated with the indicated SFI-index field in DCI2_0. The new field may extend from indicating the BWP ID for each symbolto indicating the BWP ID for contiguous symbols that are indicated to bein the same direction, D/F/U. The new field may be a bitmap indicatingwhich symbols/slots are used as a legacy BWP or the subband where DL orUL is determined based on the existing slot format indicator or anyother suitable procedure. For example, e.g., 0 may indicate subband and1 may indicate regular BWP and each bit has a certain granularity thatmay extend from one symbol to multiple symbols, slots, subframes, etc.

To reduce the DCI payload size, a table of different configurations as alegacy DL BWP, DL subband, UL subband, or a legacy UL BWP is predefined.Alternatively, the table may indicate only the subband or a legacy BWP.The DL or UL is determined based on the existing slot format indicatoror any other suitable procedure. Then the new field may point to theindex of one these rows, similar to the manner in which SFI-index isdefined but is used to indicate whether a legacy BWP or subband may beapplied. The indication granularity can extend from one symbol tomultiple symbols, slots, subframes, etc.

The above-disclosed embodiments addressed issues for the UE operating inthe UL/DL subband, e.g., UE 1 in FIG. 15 as described below. Thefollowing will focus on the UE operating on the complement of the UL/DLsubband within the legacy DL/UL BWP, respectively, e.g., UE 2 in FIG. 15.

FIG. 15 illustrates the use 1500 of DL RBs around the UL subband,according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 15 , it is beneficial for UE 2 1502 to be aware of thesubband configurations even if UE 2 1502 uses the RBs 1504 around thissubband. For example, UE 2 1502 may apply special interference cancelingschemes to reduce the interference received from UE 1 1501 using the ULsubband 1503.

FIG. 16 is a graph 1600 illustrating the use of UL RBs around a DLsubband, according to an embodiment. That is, as the converse to FIG. 15, when the DL subband 1601 is confined within a legacy UL BWP 1603,knowledge of the presence of the DL subband 1601 is beneficial even ifthe UE uses UL RBs 1602 around it. That is, in Error! Reference sourcenot found. FIG. 16 , UE 2 may transmit a UL in RBs 1602 around a DLsubband 1601 used by the UE 1. For example, when PUSCH frequency hoppingis configured/indicated, if any of the hops (intra-slot hopping,inter-slot hopping, inter-repetition hopping, etc.) falls within the DLsubband, certain UE behavior may be defined, as will be described belowin more detail.

Though the following embodiments enable the UE to operate around the RBsthat are configured/indicated as a subband, based on the knowledge ofwhere and when this subband is active, these embodiments can be extendedfor the UE operating on the RBs within the configured/indicated subband.

The foregoing embodiments configure/indicate a subband in either timedomain or frequency domain and can be applied to the UE operating on RBsaround the configured/indicated subband to indicate/configure where andwhen the UL/DL subband is actively used by other UEs. Thus, a UE shouldknow how to determine whether it operates on RBs within the subband orRBs around the subband.

To address this matter, the UE may assume that it operates on RBs aroundthe configured UL/DL subband within a legacy DL/UL BWP, respectively,unless indicated otherwise, i.e., unless indicated to operate on RBswithin the configured UL/DL subband. This indication may be providedthrough higher layer signaling such as RRC parameter operating_mode, forexample.

If set to subband, the UE operates on RBs within subband based on theprovided configurations. If set to the legacy_BWP, the UE operates onRBs around the subband, but with the knowledge of the presence of thesubband. Upon the absence of operating_mode, default mode may be definedsuch as operating on RBs around the subband, for example.

To provide the network with more flexibility, the operation mode may beindicated through a MAC-CE, a GC-PDCCH such as DCI 2_0, or a UE-specificPDCCH. For example, a 1-bit field may indicate operating_mode, thesubband operation is assumed if it is set to 1, and a legacy BWP isassumed if the bit is set to 0. If the UE is configured to receive thisindication by being provided with the position of this field within theGC-PDCCH or it is indicated that this field is present in a UE-specificPDCCH by higher layer signaling, but the indication is not yet received,a default operation mode may be applied such as operating on RBs aroundthe subband, for example.

A UE may receive the configurations of the UL/DL subband but may notoperate in the UL/DL subband. Instead, the UE operates on RBs in thelegacy DL/UL BWP around the configured UL/DL subband.

The UE may be indicated to operate in the configured subband or in theRBs surrounding the UE by an RRC, MAC-CE, GC-PDCCH, or UE-specificPDCCH.

Absent an explicit indication, the UE may operate according to a defaultoperation mode, e.g., in the RBs around the subband.

For a UE operating on RBs around the subband, when it is activated, theUE may assume the scheduled/configured PDSCH will be rate matched orpunctured around the UL subband within the legacy DL BWP. The same canbe applied for a PUSCH scheduled/configured around a DL subband within alegacy UL BWP. Rate matching/puncturing for a PUSCH in the UL subbandwithin a legacy DL BWP may be beneficial to enable the gNB to performmeasurements of cross-link interference from other gNBs. Thedetermination of whether the subband is active may be realized based onthe indicated symbols/slots that will have the subband based on theaforementioned schemes or any other suitable schemes. For example, if aset of slots/symbols is indicated to have the subband, then the UE mayassume that the subband is active; otherwise, it is assumed that thesubband is inactive.

FIG. 17 is a graph 1700 illustrating rate matching or puncturing of aPDSCH which overlaps with an active UL subband 1701, according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 17 a UL subband 1701 is active in Subframe 1 1703 andSubframe 2 1704, but not in Subframe 0 1702. UE 1 operates on the ULsubband 1701, while UE 2 operates on RBs 1705 around the UL subband 1701within the legacy DL BWP 1706. When the UL subband 1701 is notactivated, i.e., Subframe 0 1702, the scheduled PDSCH 1707 can span allRBs within the legacy DL BWP 1706. However, for PDSCH 1708 thatpartially overlaps with an active UL subband 1701, the UE assumes thatthe PDSCH 1708 is rate matched or punctured around the RBs within theactive UL subband 1701. Although FIG. 17 illustrates a PDSCH 1708 arounda UL subband 1701, the same example can be extended for a PUSCH aroundthe DL subband.

Although FIG. 17 illustrates a dynamic PDSCH, the same procedure canalso be extended to an SPS scenario and different PDSCH repetitionsschemes, as well as to CG PUSCH type 1 and 2 and different PUSCHrepetition schemes. For example, if a set repetitions of PDSCH or PUSCHdoes not overlap with an active subband, this set will be transmittedsimilarly to legacy behavior. However, for the set of repetitions ofPDSCH or PUSCH that overlaps with an active subband, the UE may assumethat the PDSCH or PUSCH is rate matched or punctured around the RBswithin the active subband.

If the PDSCH or PUSCH overlaps with an active subband, rate matching orpuncturing occurs around those RBs within the active subband.

As to PDSCH or PUSCH repetition, rate matching or puncturing is appliedfor each repetition separately based on whether the PDSCH or PUSCHoverlaps with an active subband.

To simplify the UE implementation and avoid different treatments fordifferent repetitions based on whether the scheduled/configured channelsoverlap with an active subband, the repetition that overlaps with anactive subband may be dropped and may not be received or transmitted forthe PDSCH or PUSCH, respectively. However, if all repetitions overlapwith the same active subband, they may be transmitted or receivedbecause no special treatments are required for different repetitions.

More advanced rules may be applied to determine which repetitions aredropped and which are transmitted or received for PDSCH or PUSCH,respectively. For example, the majority rule may be used. If most of therepetitions overlaps with an active subband, they transmitted orreceived with rate matching or puncturing taking place for RBs thatoverlap with an active subband. In this case, the remaining repetitionswill be dropped though they do not overlap with an active subband. Thismay be beneficial if the gain of repetitions exceeds the negative impactof rate matching or puncturing.

Rules such as the majority rule may be applied to determine whichrepetitions are to be dropped and which are to be transmitted orreceived.

To allow a victim gNB to measure the received interference from anaggressor gNB, it may be beneficial to ensure that UEs served by thevictim gNB refrain from transmitting the UL on the same resources usedby the reference signal (RS) transmitted by the aggressor gNB for thispurpose. Though this can be handled by the victim gNB for dynamic ULscheduling, it is difficult for this to be avoided for a configured ULtransmission. Even for dynamic UL scheduling, completely avoiding suchcollisions may lead to inefficient scheduling.

For example, the victim gNB may provide its UEs with the configurationsof the RS transmitted by the aggressor gNB. Therefore, the UE may assumethat the REs occupied by such RS are unavailable for the ULtransmission. The UE may either puncture or rate match around those REs.The victim gNB may provide a channel state information reference signal(CSI-RS) resource set to the UE and indicate that the REs spanned byCSI-RS in this resource set is used for conducting gNG-to-gNB CLImeasurement and the UE should not transmit UL on those REs. For example,an RRC parameter such as availability may be used.

Instead of puncturing or rate match around the REs occupied by the RStransmitted by the aggressor gNB, the UE may puncture or rate matcharound any RB that partially or fully overlaps with this RS.

This procedure (in which the victim gNB provides its UEs with theconfigurations of reference signals transmitted by the aggressor gNB andthe UE rate matches or punctures around the RBs/REs occupied by thesereference signals) may be performed when the RS transmitted by theaggressor gNB overlaps with the UL subband of the victim gNB in bothtime domain and frequency domain, e.g., when both gNBs belong to thesame operator and the victim gNB uses full duplex operation while theother the aggressor gNB deploys a legacy TDD system (intra subbandinterference). However, the RS transmitted by the aggressor gNB may onlyoverlap with the UL subband in time domain and the victim gNB measuresthe leakage in the UL subband. This occurs when the aggressor gNBbelongs to another operator or when both gNBs use full duplex operationmode. In this case, the victim gNB may choose particular REs/RBs toconduct the measurements based on a received signal strength indicator(RSSI) or total received power, for example.

To this end, the legacy rate matching used for PDSCH can be extended tobe applied for the UL transmission, as well. Specifically, the samerateMatchPatternToAddModList, rateMatchPatternGroup1 andrateMatchPatternGroup2 provided for PDSCH can be applied for the ULtransmission. The UE may reinterpret the RRC parameter resourceBlockswhich in legacy NR provides an RB level bitmap in the frequency domain.A bit in the bitmap set to 1 indicates that the UE shall apply ratematching in the corresponding RB in accordance with thesymbolsInResourceBlock bitmap. If used as a cell-level rate matchingpattern, the bitmap identifies CRBs. If used as a BWP-level ratematching pattern, the bitmap identifies PRBs inside the BWP or ULsubband.

Therefore, for cell-level rate matching patterns, resourceBlocks can bedirectly applied as it is defined relative to the CRB which may be thesame for the DL and UL in TDD operation. However, for BWP-level ratematching patterns, the UE may interpret resourceBlocks relative to theUL subband which depends on start and size of the UL subband. ThesymbolsInResourceBlock for the DL PDSCH can be applied for the ULsubband to identify the symbols on which the UE should perform ratematching for the UL transmission.

To provide the gNB with more flexibility and decouple the rate matchingpatterns for the DL and UL, the following may be applied to indicate therate matching resources for the UL.

-- ASN1START -- TAG-RATEMATCHPATTERN-START RateMatchPattern ::=  SEQUENCE {  rateMatchPatternId    RateMatchPatternId,  patternType CHOICE {  bitmaps  SEQUENCE {   resourceBlocks      BIT STRING (SIZE(275)),   symbolsInResourceBlock       CHOICE {   oneSlot     BIT STRING(SIZE (14)),   twoSlots      BIT STRING (SIZE (28))   },  periodicityAndPattern      CHOICE {   n2    BIT STRING (SIZE (2)),  n4    BIT STRING (SIZE (4)),   n5    BIT STRING (SIZE (5)),   n8   BIT STRING (SIZE (8)),   n10     BIT STRING (SIZE (10)),   n20    BIT STRING (SIZE (20)),   n40     BIT STRING (SIZE (40))   }OPTIONAL, -- Need S   ...  },  controlResourceSet    ControlResourceSetId  },   Bitmaps-UL      SEQUENCE {  resourceBlocks-UL       BIT STRING (SIZE (275)),  symbolsInResourceBlock-UL        CHOICE {   oneSlot     BIT STRING(SIZE (14)),   twoSlots      BIT STRING (SIZE (28))   },  periodicityAndPattern-UL        CHOICE {   n2    BIT STRING (SIZE(2)),   n4    BIT STRING (SIZE (4)),   n5    BIT STRING (SIZE (5)),   n8   BIT STRING (SIZE (8)),   n10     BIT STRING (SIZE (10)),   n20    BIT STRING (SIZE (20)),   n40     BIT STRING (SIZE (40))   }OPTIONAL, -- Need S   }  subcarrierSpacing   SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, -- Cond CellLevel  subcarrierSpacing-UL     SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, -- Cond CellLevel  dummy ENUMERATED {dynamic, semiStatic },  ...,  [[  controlResourceSet-r16    ControlResourceSetId-r16 OPTIONAL -- Need R  ]] } --TAG-RATEMATCHPATTERN-STOP -- ASN1STOP RateMatchPattern fielddescriptions Undefined parameters follow the legacy definitions.Bitmaps-UL Indicates UL rate matching pattern by a pair of bitmapsresourceBlocks and symbolsInResourceBlock to define the rate matchpattern within one or two slots, and a third bitmapperiodicityAndPattern to define the repetition pattern with which thepattern defined by the above bitmap pair occurs.periodicityAndPattern-UL A time domain the UL repetition pattern atwhich the pattern defined by symbolsInResourceBlock and resourceBlocksrecurs. This slot pattern repeats itself continuously. Absence of thisfield indicates the value n1. resourceBlocks-UL A UL resource blocklevel bitmap in the frequency domain. A bit in the bitmap set to 1indicates that the UE shall apply rate matching in the correspondingresource block in accordance with the symbolsInResourceBlock bitmap. Ifused as cell-level rate matching pattern, the bitmap identifies “commonresource blocks (CRB)”. If used as BWP-level rate matching pattern, thebitmap identifies “physical resource blocks” inside the BWP. The first/leftmost bit corresponds to resource block 0, and so on (see TS 38.214,clause 5.1.4.1). subcarrierSpacing-UL The SubcarrierSpacing for this ULresource pattern. If the field is absent, the UE applies the SCS of theassociated BWP. The value kHz15 corresponds to μ = 0, the value kHz30corresponds to μ = 1, and so on. Only the following values areapplicable depending on the used frequency (see TS 38.214, clause5.1.4.1): FR1: 15, 30 or 60 kHz FR2-1: 60 or 120 kHz FR2-2: 120, 480, or960 kHz symbolsInResourceBlock-UL A UL symbol level bitmap in timedomain. It indicates with a bit set to true that the UE shall rate matcharound the corresponding symbol. This pattern recurs (in time domain)with the configured periodicityAndPattern. For oneSlot, if ECP isconfigured, the first 12 bits represent the symbols within the slot andthe last two bits within the bitstring are disregarded by the UE;Otherwise, the 14 bits represent the symbols within the slot. FortwoSlots, if ECP is configured, the first 12 bits represent the symbolswithin the first slot and the next 12 bits represent the symbols in thesecond slot and the last four bits within the bit string are disregardedby the UE; Otherwise, the first 14 bits represent the symbols within thefirst slot and the next 14 bits represent the symbols in the secondslot. For the bits representing symbols in a slot, the most significantbit of the bit string represents the first symbol in the slot and thesecond most significant bit represents the second symbol in the slot andso on.

Alternatively, a new set of RRC IEs rateMatchPatternToAddModList,rateMatchPatternGroup1 and rateMatchPatternGroup2 can be provided aspart of PUSCH-Config or in ServingCellConfig or ServingCellConfigCommonwith suffix UL. The same procedures for PDSCH may be extended to beapplied for the PUSCH. The UL scheduling DCIs, e.g., DCI format 0_1 orDCI format 0_2, may have new fields to indicate which rate matchinggroup is to be applied.

Also, a victim gNB may indicate to its UEs the unavailable resources inRE level, similar to the zero-power-CSI-RS (ZP-CSI-RS) procedures forthe DL. In legacy NR, indicating the unavailable REs uses the sameframework to indicate the time domain and frequency domain location ofthe NZP-CSI-RS. Specifically, CSI-RS-ResourceMapping andCSI-ResourcePeriodicityAndOffset are used to define RE mapping of theZP-CSI-RS and the corresponding periodicity/offset for the periodic andsemi-persistent ZP-CSI-RS, respectively.

Therefore, PUSCH-Config may include the RRC parameters for aperiodic,semi-persistent and periodic ZP-CSI-RS. The UL scheduling DCIs, e.g.,DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2, may have new fields to indicate whichaperiodic ZP-CSI-RS resource is to be applied.

Regarding the time location of ZP-CSI-RS used for the PUSCH, the UE mayfollow the legacy NR to determine the time domain location. For thefrequency domain location of ZP-CSI-RS, the UE may interpret freqBand inCSI-RS-ResourceMapping relative to the UL subband depending on how it isdefined, i.e., either as subband or UL BWP.

Since the bandwidth of the UL subband is expected to be narrow, nrofRBsindicating the number of PRBs spanned by ZP-CSI-RS for PUSCH is notnecessary to multiples of 4 and may have a granularity of a single RB orRE. Also, the ZP-CSI-RS is unnecessary to occupy contiguous RBs in theUL subband. Therefore, a bitmap can be used to indicate which RBs or REsin the UL subband are occupied by ZP-CSI-RS for PUSCH. Each bit may bemapped to a single RB or multiple RBs depending on the size of the ULsubband. The gNB may indicate to the UE how to interpret each bit anddetermine its resolution.

Also, it is unnecessary for the number of RBs spanned by ZP-CSI-RS forPUSCH to be greater than minimum (24, the size of the UL subband). Thiscondition can be relaxed depending on how many resources the victim gNBintends to use to conduct the measurements.

The UE may indicate to the gNB whether it supports any of theaforementioned procedures via UE capability signaling, with even finergranularity for different UL transmission natures. For example, ratematching or puncturing may be applied for periodic or semi-persistent ULtransmission, but not for dynamic UL transmission. This enables the UEto have sufficient time to determine whether a puncture or rate matchingfor the UL transmission will occur. Also, for the UL rate matchingpatterns, the UE may indicate that it only supports the RRC configuredrate patterns, not the dynamically indicated rate patterns. Similarly,for ZP-CSI-RS for PUSCH, the UE may indicate that it only supportsperiodic or semi-persistent ZP-CSI-RS for the PUSCH, and not aperiodicZP-CSI-RS for the PUSCH.

To further simplify the UE implementation, when the UL transmissionpartially or fully overlaps with an RS used for gNB-to-gNB CLI,resources indicated by rate matching patterns for the UL or resourcesindicated by ZP-CSI-RS for the UL, the UE may partially or fully cancelthe UL transmission. For example, there may be a timeline/capabilitysimilar to the cancellation timeline/capability when a conflict occursbetween RRC UL transmission and dynamic DL reception in the context ofTDD slot configurations.

FIG. 18 is a graph 1800 illustrating use of multiple FDRA indications todetermine the frequency domain allocation of the PDSCH above and belowan active UL subband, according to an embodiment. That is, FIG. 18provides another solution to enhance the scheduling granularity andprovide the gNB with more scheduling flexibility. The same approach canbe used for scheduling/configuring a PUSCH around the DL subband.

Referring to FIG. 18 , multiple FDRA indications 1801 and 1802 are usedfor indicating the allocated frequency domain resources for the samePDSCH 1803 or PUSCH. For example, if a UL/DL subband 1804 is surroundedby DL/UL RBs 1805 of a legacy DL BWP 1806, respectively, then two FDRAindications 1801, 1802 are used. A first 1802 of these indicationsprovides the frequency domain allocation in the lower set of RBs and asecond indication 1801 provides the higher set of RBs.

In FIG. 18 , PDSCH 1802 is scheduled based on legacy procedure becauseit does not overlap with the active UL subband 1804. However, thefrequency domain allocation of PDSCH 1801 is indicated by two FDRAfields. FDRA 1 indicates the frequency domain allocation of PDSCH belowthe active UL subband while FDRA 2 indicates the frequency domainallocation of PDSCH above the active UL subband. Though FIG. 18 shows anexample of a PDSCH 1801 around the UL subband 1804, the same example canbe extended for a PUSCH around the DL subband 1806.

Although FIG. 18 illustrates multiple FDRA fields for dynamicscheduling, the same concept can be extended for configured schedulingsuch as SPS and UL CG Type 2 where those fields can be carried in theactivation DCIs. For UL CG Type 1, multiple FDRAs can be provided byhigher layer signaling.

Hereinafter, a new field is defined for the second FDRA in DCI used forscheduling the PDSCH or PUSCH around the active subband. The size of thefield may be determined based on bandwidth of the legacy BWP.

As an alternative for avoiding alternating the DCI size, the legacy FDRAfield determined based on the bandwidth of regular active BWP isrepurposed to indicate both FDRA 1 and FDRA 2. The size of FDRA 1 andFDRA 2 may be determined number of available RBs in each portion aboveand below the active subband. The RBG, PRG, VRB bundle, or PRB bundlemay also be defined relative to each portion of the available RBs aboveand below the active subband, similar to how they are defined within anactive subband as described herein.

FIG. 19 is a graph 1900 illustrating a modification of the legacy FDRAfield to carry FDRA1 and FDRA 2, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 19 , a legacy FDRA field 1901 accommodates FDRA 1 1902and FDRA 2 1903. If the size of the legacy FDRA field 1901 is largerthan the sizes of FDRA 1 1902 and FDRA 2 1903, the remaining bits arereserved 1904. This may be beneficial as the FDRA field size is fixedirrespective of whether the FDRA field 1901 schedules a PDSCH or PUSCHaround an active subband or performs legacy scheduling with an activesubband. For example, for resource allocation type 0, the size of FDRA 11902 and FDRA 2 1903 are determined based on the number of RBGs withinthe lower and upper portions of RBs around the active subband,respectively. For resource allocation type 1, the sizes of FDRA 1 1902and FDRA 2 1903 are determined based on the number of RBs within thelower and upper portions of RBs around the active subband, respectively.

The UE may assume that same resource allocation type is applied nomatter whether the scheduling is for the PDSCH or PUSCH around an activesubband or merely legacy scheduling with an active subband with the samecorresponding configurations for simplicity though the configurationscan be different.

The reserved bits 1904, such as the MSB for example, may still be usedto indicate the resource allocation type when resourceAllocation isconfigured as ‘dynamicSwitch’. Also, the reserved bits 1904 can be usedto indicate the frequency hopping offset value. The indicated offsetvalue may be applied for both portions of PUSCH below and above theactive DL subband within the legacy UL BWP.

For additional flexibility, it may be possible to provide differentfrequency offset values for each portion of PUSCH. In this case, thefrequency offset indicator of the first portion of PUSCH may be lumped(appended) to FDRA 1 1902 and the frequency offset indicator of thesecond portion of PUSCH may be lumped (appended) to FDRA 2 1903.

Thought the above description was for FDRA field in DCI used for dynamicscheduling or triggering SPS or UL CG type 2, the same concept can beapplied when the FDRA field 1901 is indicated by higher layer signalingsuch as in UL CG type 1.

An RBG, a PRG, a VRB bundle, or a PRB bundle can be defined based on theavailable RBs above and below the active subband.

The resource allocation type and its corresponding parameters can be thesame irrespective of whether the PDSCH or PUSCH is scheduled accordingto legacy procedures or around the active subband.

Hereinafter, some constraints are disclosed for use when the PDSCH/PUSCHis rate matched or punctured around the UL/DL subband, respectively.These constraints may be applied when PDSCH/PUSCH can be scheduledaround the UL/DL subband, respectively.

The support for allocating PUSCH or PDSCH around the DL subband or ULsubband may be subject to UE capability. In other words, as part of UEcapability report, UE may indicate whether it supports PUSCH or PDSCH tobe allocated around the active DL subband or UL subband, respectively,within the legacy BWP. This allocation may be by scheduling around thesubband or due to rate matching/puncturing around the subband aspreviously described.

In legacy NR, for PUSCH resource allocation type 0, the scheduling mustbe contiguous or almost contiguous. For PUSCH resource allocation type1, only non-interleaved scheduling is supported. For unlicensed bandoperation, PUSCH resource allocation type 2 is used based on aninterlace structure in which RBs are uniformly distributed with the BWP.

The PUSCH is considered almost non-contiguous with respect to PUSCHresource allocation type 0, if the following conditions are satisfied bythe following expression,

N _(RB_gap)/(N _(RB_alloc) +N _(RB_gap))≤0.25 and (N _(RB_alloc) +N_(RB_gap))>X,

where X is 106, 51 or 24 RBs for 15 kHz, 30 kHz or 60 kHz, respectively,N_(RB_gap) is the total number of unallocated RBs between allocated RBs,and N_(RB_alloc) is the total number of allocated RBs.

FIG. 20 is a graph 2000 illustrating N_(RB_gap) as defined for PUSCHresource allocation type 1, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 20 , to simplify the UE implementation, at least oneof the above conditions may be applied even for non-interleaved PUSCHresource allocation type 1 when the PUSCH is divided into two portionsabove 2002 and below 2003 the active DL subband 2004. In this case, forexample, N_(RB_gap) 2005 may include the RBs between the highestallocated RB 2006 to the lowest allocated RB 2007 of the lower 2003 andupper 2002 portions of the PUSCH 2001, respectively. When ratematching/puncturing of the PUSCH 2001 around the DL subband 2004 occurs,the UE does not expect to perform such operation when any one of theabove conditions is unsatisfied. Supporting this feature may be subjectto UE capability and may be indicated as part of a capability report.

The first condition may be restrictive when the active DL subband iswide and it may be hard to satisfy the first condition, i.e.,N_(RB_gap)/(N_(RB_alloc)+N_(RB_gap))≤0.25, without allocating largenumber of RBs for PUSCH, i.e., N_(RB_alloc). Therefore, we propose thatthreshold value of this condition to be Y,N_(RB_gap)/(N_(RB_alloc)+N_(RB_gap))≤Y, and the value of Y may beindicated as part of UE capability report. For example, it may takevalue from the set {0.25, 0.5, 0.9}. Also, in case for ratematching/puncturing of PUSCH around the DL subband, UE does not expectto perform such operation with any of the above conditions, or both, arenot stratified based on the indicated value Y.

This threshold may only be applied when the PUSCH is scheduled or ratematching/puncturing occurs around an active DL subband. However, forlegacy scheduling or rate matching/puncturing, the legacy conditions canstill be applied, if any.

For PUSCH resource allocation type 0 or 1, or when rate matching orpuncturing occur, one of the above conditions may separately be appliedfor each portion of the PUSCH above and below the active DL subband. Forexample, when the PUSCH allocated RBs above the active DL subband shouldsatisfy any of the above conditions, and the PUSCH allocated RBs belowthe active DL subband should satisfy any of the above conditions, it isunnecessary that both portions of RBs jointly conform to any of theabove conditions. This feature may also be indicated as part of UEcapability in a capability report. The UE may not expect to transmit thePUSCH with the disclosed conditions being unsatisfied for any portion ofthe PUSCH around the DL subband. Supporting this feature may be subjectto UE capability and may be indicated as part of a capability report.

In legacy NR, there are different frequency hopping procedures developedsuch as intra-slot hopping, inter-slot hopping, and inter-repetitionhopping. The offset between the hops can be configured by highersignaling and indicated in the scheduling DCI. The exact location of thehop depends on the offset and BWP size based on the followingexpression.

(RB_(start)+RB_(offset)) mod N_(BWP) ^(size)

With the presence of active DL subband within the UL BWP, the hop mayfall within the DL subband. Therefore, it is beneficial to define the UEbehavior in this case.

As a simple solution, UE does not expect that any of PUSCH hops to fallswithin an active DL subband. In this case, it is gNB's responsibility toensure that the configured/indicated RBs offset will not result in anyPUSCH hop to fall within the active DL subband.

To avoid imposing a restriction on the gNB, the UE may be allowed todrop the hop which falls within the active DL subband. This isbeneficial when the gNB schedules the PUSCH, indicates the frequencyoffset hop and then decides to activate the DL subband that collideswith the hop. In this case, the UE drops the hop.

To also accommodate the UE implementation, a timeline can be appliedbased on UE capability in a manner similar to the cancellationtimeline/capability when conflict occurs between RRC UL transmission anddynamic DL reception. More specifically, the UE does not expect tocancel the hop transmission if it receives indication of the presence ofactive DL subband within T_(proc, 2) window before the first symbol ofhop that falls in the DL subband. If the UE indicates the capability ofpartial canceling, then the UE still transmits a portion of the PUSCHhop that falls after T_(proc, 2) window that starts after receiving theindication of the active DL subband, e.g., the last symbol of a CORESETcarrying the DCI activating the DL subband and cancels the remainingsymbols of the PUSCH hop.

If the PUSCH hop falls within an active DL subband, the UE may partiallyor fully cancel the PUSCH hop according to a particular timeline and UEcapability.

Instead of only dropping the hop that falls within the DL subband, theentire PUSCH may be dropped according to a particular timeline and UEcapability as previously described.

If the PUSCH hop falls within an active DL subband, UE may partially orfully cancel all of the PUSCH hops, not merely the hop that falls withinthe active DL subband, according to a particular timeline and UEcapability.

As disclosed herein, the embodiments developed for the UE to operatearound the RBs that are configured/indicated as a subband, based on theknowledge of where and when this subband is active, can be extended towhen the UE operates on the RBs within the configured/indicated subband.Therefore, for PUSCH hopping in the UL subband and similar PUCCH hoppingdescribed herein, the UE may apply the same rules for determining thefrequency domain location of the PUSCH and replace N_(BWP) ^(size) ofthe UL BWP with the size of the associated UL subband. Therefore, thelocation of the hop can be given by the following expression.

(RB_(start)+RB_(offset)) mod N_(UL-Subband) ^(size)

where N_(UL-Subband) ^(size) is the size of UL subband, RB_(start) isthe first RB in the scheduled/configured PUSCH within the UL subband andRB_(offset) which can indicate how the offset is determined when thePUSCH is scheduled in legacy UL BWP. The same predefined offset valuescan be used except by replacing N_(BWP) ^(size) of the UL BWP with thesize of the associated UL subband. Either the same or different RRCoffset lists for legacy UL BWP can be provided by RRC signaling.Configuring new lists for the hopping offset provides the gNB with moreflexibility. If a single PUSCH-Config is to be applied to PUSCHscheduled, the solutions developed herein for translating the parametersof the PUCCH can be applied. For example, the gNB may provide the UEwith an additional offset to be added/subtracted from the offset used inthe legacy UL BWP.

If PUSCH repetitions fall in the legacy UL BWP and UL subband, the UE'sbehavior needs to be determined. For repetitions that fall within the ULsubband, the configurations associated with the UL subband may beapplied, whereas, for the repetitions that fall within the legacy ULBWP, the configurations associated with the legacy UL BWP may beapplied.

The UE may interpret the FDRA field/parameter (e.g., for dynamic andconfigured PUSCH) differently for different PUSCH repetitions. Onepossibility is that the FDRA field/parameter is determined based on thefirst PUSCH repetition. Specifically, if the first PUSCH repetitionfalls in the UL subband, the FDRA may be interpreted based the ULsubband as description herein. The remaining repetitions may be assumedto occupy the same RBs even if they fall in the legacy UL BWP. In thiscase, it is the responsibility of the gNB to ensure that allocated RBsare within the UL subband or the legacy UL BWP. This is important whenthe first PUSCH repetition falls in the legacy UL BWP since the legacyUL BWP may be wider than the UL subband. In this case, the UE does notexpect any of the PUSCH repetition to fall outside the UL subband.

Another possibility is to have a single FDRA field/parameter that may beinterrupted based on the location of first PUSCH repetition in the ULsubband or the legacy UL BWP. A particular rule is applied to derive thefrequency domain location of the remaining PUSCH repetitions that fallin the legacy UL BWP or UL subband, respectively. The solutionsdeveloped herein for translating the parameters of the PUCCH can beapplied. For example, an offset may be applied for the remainingrepetitions. The FDRA is interpreted based on legacy UL BWP if the firstPUSCH repetition falls within the legacy UL BWP. For the remainingrepetition in the UL subband, an offset can be applied between the firstRB of the first PUSCH repetition and the first RB in the remaining PUSCHrepetitions in UL subband. The offset value may be configured by higherlayer signaling or multiple values may be provided. A MAC-CE indicatesthe particular value to be applied.

Alternatively, two FDRA fields/parameters may be indicated/configured todifferent PUSCH repetitions in the legacy UL BWP or UL subband. In thiscase, the associated FDRA is applied depending on whether the PUSCHrepetition is in the legacy UL BWP or UL subband.

The UE may indicate to the gNB whether it supports PUSCH repetitionsspanning the UL subband and the legacy UL BWP via the UE's capabilitysignaling.

FIG. 21 are graphs 2100 illustrating a guard band 2101 at edges of theactive UL/DL subband, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 21 , it is beneficial to configure a guard band (d)2101 around the active UL/DL subband 2102 to reduce the interferenceleakage between the neighbor bands. The guard band 2101 may be fullyconfined with the active DL/UL subband.

The size of the guard band (d) 2101 may be configured by higher layersignaling in units of RBs and may be applied to both edges of the activeUL/DL subband as illustrated in FIG. 21 .

The size of guard band may be predefined, i.e., provided in the specs,depending on several parameters such as the numerology, the width of thesubband, etc. The predefined values may be applied as a default value ifthe gNB does not provide the UE with other information.

When operating on the RBs confined within the guard band 2101 of the ULor DL subband, the UE does not expect to transmit or receive on RBswithin the guard band 2101, respectively. However, if the UE operates onthe legacy BWP, i.e., the subband is deactivated, then no guard band isneeded and the RBs within the guard band 2101 can be used fortransmission or reception as part of regular UL or DL BWP, respectively.

The size of the guard band may be configured by higher layer signaling,or a default value provided in the specs may be applied. The higherlayer signaling disclosed herein for different procedures may beincluded in RMSI or OSI to provide the RRC idle/inactive UEs with thenecessary information about the subband operation.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a networkenvironment 2200, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 22 , an electronic device 2201 in a networkenvironment 2200 may communicate with an electronic device 2202 via afirst network 2298 (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network),or an electronic device 2204 or a server 2208 via a second network 2299(e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). The electronicdevice 2201 may communicate with the electronic device 2204 via theserver 2208. The electronic device 2201 may include a processor 2220, amemory 2230, an input device 2240, a sound output device 2255, a displaydevice 2260, an audio module 2270, a sensor module 2276, an interface2277, a haptic module 2279, a camera module 2280, a power managementmodule 2288, a battery 2289, a communication module 2290, a subscriberidentification module (SIM) card 2296, or an antenna module 2294. In oneembodiment, at least one (e.g., the display device 2260 or the cameramodule 2280) of the components may be omitted from the electronic device2201, or one or more other components may be added to the electronicdevice 2201. Some of the components may be implemented as a singleintegrated circuit (IC). For example, the sensor module 2276 (e.g., afingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or an illuminance sensor) may beembedded in the display device 2260 (e.g., a display).

The processor 2220 may execute, for example, software (e.g., a program2240) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or asoftware component) of the electronic device 2201 coupled with theprocessor 2220 and may perform various data processing or computations.As at least part of the data processing or computations, the processor2220 may load a command or data received from another component (e.g.,the sensor module 2246 or the communication module 2290) in volatilememory 2232, process the command or the data stored in the volatilememory 2232, and store resulting data in non-volatile memory 2234. Theprocessor 2220 may include a main processor 2221 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or an application processor (AP)), and anauxiliary processor 2223 (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), animage signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or a communicationprocessor (CP)) that is operable independently from, or in conjunctionwith, the main processor 2221. Additionally or alternatively, theauxiliary processor 2223 may be adapted to consume less power than themain processor 2221, or execute a particular function. The auxiliaryprocessor 2223 may be implemented as being separate from, or a part of,the main processor 2221.

The auxiliary processor 2223 may control at least some of the functionsor states related to at least one component (e.g., the display device2260, the sensor module 2276, or the communication module 2290) amongthe components of the electronic device 2201, instead of the mainprocessor 2221 while the main processor 2221 is in an inactive (e.g.,sleep) state, or together with the main processor 2221 while the mainprocessor 2221 is in an active state (e.g., executing an application).The auxiliary processor 2223 (e.g., an image signal processor or acommunication processor) may be implemented as part of another component(e.g., the camera module 2280 or the communication module 2290)functionally related to the auxiliary processor 2223.

The memory 2230 may store various data used by at least one component(e.g., the processor 2220 or the sensor module 2276) of the electronicdevice 2201. The various data may include, for example, software (e.g.,the program 2240) and input data or output data for a command relatedthereto. The memory 2230 may include the volatile memory 2232 or thenon-volatile memory 2234.

The program 2240 may be stored in the memory 2230 as software, and mayinclude, for example, an operating system (OS) 2242, middleware 2244, oran application 2246.

The input device 2250 may receive a command or data to be used byanother component (e.g., the processor 2220) of the electronic device2201, from the outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device 2201. Theinput device 2250 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, or akeyboard.

The sound output device 2255 may output sound signals to the outside ofthe electronic device 2201. The sound output device 2255 may include,for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used forgeneral purposes, such as playing multimedia or recording, and thereceiver may be used for receiving an incoming call. The receiver may beimplemented as being separate from, or a part of, the speaker.

The display device 2260 may visually provide information to the outside(e.g., a user) of the electronic device 2201. The display device 2260may include, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projectorand control circuitry to control a corresponding one of the display,hologram device, and projector. The display device 2260 may includetouch circuitry adapted to detect a touch, or sensor circuitry (e.g., apressure sensor) adapted to measure the intensity of force incurred bythe touch.

The audio module 2270 may convert a sound into an electrical signal andvice versa. The audio module 2270 may obtain the sound via the inputdevice 2250 or output the sound via the sound output device 2255 or aheadphone of an external electronic device 2202 directly (e.g., wired)or wirelessly coupled with the electronic device 2201.

The sensor module 2276 may detect an operational state (e.g., power ortemperature) of the electronic device 2201 or an environmental state(e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device 2201, andthen generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to thedetected state. The sensor module 2276 may include, for example, agesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, amagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximitysensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, atemperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The interface 2277 may support one or more specified protocols to beused for the electronic device 2201 to be coupled with the externalelectronic device 2202 directly (e.g., wired) or wirelessly. Theinterface 2277 may include, for example, a high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a securedigital (SD) card interface, or an audio interface.

A connecting terminal 2278 may include a connector via which theelectronic device 2201 may be physically connected with the externalelectronic device 2202. The connecting terminal 2278 may include, forexample, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or anaudio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic module 2279 may convert an electrical signal into amechanical stimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or an electricalstimulus which may be recognized by a user via tactile sensation orkinesthetic sensation. The haptic module 2279 may include, for example,a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electrical stimulator.

The camera module 2280 may capture a still image or moving images. Thecamera module 2280 may include one or more lenses, image sensors, imagesignal processors, or flashes.

The power management module 2288 may manage power supplied to theelectronic device 2201. The power management module 2288 may beimplemented as at least part of, for example, a power managementintegrated circuit (PMIC).

The battery 2289 may supply power to at least one component of theelectronic device 2201. The battery 2289 may include, for example, aprimary cell which is not rechargeable, a secondary cell which isrechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication module 2290 may support establishing a direct (e.g.,wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel betweenthe electronic device 2201 and the external electronic device (e.g., theelectronic device 2202, the electronic device 2204, or the server 2208)and performing communication via the established communication channel.The communication module 2290 may include one or more communicationprocessors that are operable independently from the processor 2220(e.g., the AP) and supports a direct (e.g., wired) communication or awireless communication. The communication module 2290 may include awireless communication module 2292 (e.g., a cellular communicationmodule, a short-range wireless communication module, or a globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wiredcommunication module 2294 (e.g., a local area network (LAN)communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). Acorresponding one of these communication modules may communicate withthe external electronic device via the first network 2298 (e.g., ashort-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™, wireless-fidelity(Wi-Fi) direct, or a standard of the Infrared Data Association (IrDA))or the second network 2299 (e.g., a long-range communication network,such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g.,LAN or wide area network (WAN)). These various types of communicationmodules may be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single IC), ormay be implemented as multiple components (e.g., multiple ICs) that areseparate from each other. The wireless communication module 2292 mayidentify and authenticate the electronic device 2201 in a communicationnetwork, such as the first network 2298 or the second network 2299,using subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriberidentity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module 2296.

The antenna module 2297 may transmit or receive a signal or power to orfrom the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of theelectronic device 2201. The antenna module 2297 may include one or moreantennas, and, therefrom, at least one antenna appropriate for acommunication scheme used in the communication network, such as thefirst network 2298 or the second network 2299, may be selected, forexample, by the communication module 2290 (e.g., the wirelesscommunication module 2292). The signal or the power may then betransmitted or received between the communication module 2290 and theexternal electronic device via the selected at least one antenna.

Commands or data may be transmitted or received between the electronicdevice 2201 and the external electronic device 2204 via the server 2208coupled with the second network 2299. Each of the electronic devices2202 and 2204 may be a device of a same type as, or a different type,from the electronic device 2201. All or some of operations to beexecuted at the electronic device 2201 may be executed at one or more ofthe external electronic devices 2202, 2204, or 2208. For example, if theelectronic device 2201 should perform a function or a serviceautomatically, or in response to a request from a user or anotherdevice, the electronic device 2201, instead of, or in addition to,executing the function or the service, may request the one or moreexternal electronic devices to perform at least part of the function orthe service. The one or more external electronic devices receiving therequest may perform the at least part of the function or the servicerequested, or an additional function or an additional service related tothe request and transfer an outcome of the performing to the electronicdevice 2201. The electronic device 2201 may provide the outcome, with orwithout further processing of the outcome, as at least part of a replyto the request. To that end, a cloud computing, distributed computing,or client-server computing technology may be used, for example.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, various changes may be made without departing fromthe spirit and the scope of the disclosure, which is defined, not by thedetailed description and embodiments, but by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method by a base station (BS), comprising:configuring a user equipment (UE) with a legacy uplink (UL) bandwidthpart (BWP) or legacy downlink (DL) BWP; and providing the UE with a ULsubband or a DL subband in a full duplex operation.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a frequency domain location of the UL subband or the DLsubband provided by the BS to the UE is defined in a frequency domain asa set of a contiguous number of resource blocks (RBs) semi-staticallyindicated by a radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the frequency domain location of the UL subband or theDL subband provided by the BS to the UE is determined based on an offsetfrom the associated legacy UL BWP or the associated legacy DL BWP,respectively, or from another reference point.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the offset is based on a numerology of the legacy UL BWP or thelegacy DL BWP.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the subband and thelegacy BWP are associated either by assigning a same identifier (ID) forthe subband and the legacy BWP or based on confinement where the subbandis fully contained in the associated BWP.
 6. The method of claim 2,wherein parameters of the frequency domain are configured to besemi-statically or dynamically changed, and wherein the parametersinclude a starting point, an ending point, or a length of the UL subbandor the DL subband.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein a time domainlocation of the UL subband or the DL subband is provided by a legacyslot format indication and an indication of whether a region is the ULsubband, the DL subband, no subband or is flexible.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a time domain location of the UL subband or the DLsubband is provided by two overlaying slot format indicating signals bywhich the UE determines a presence and location of the UL subband andthe DL subband.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein a first slot formatindicating signal is based on legacy slot format indication and a secondslot format indicating signal is a bitmap.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the bitmap indicates the presence of the UL subband or DLsubband and the transmission direction is opposite of the transmissiondirection indicated by the first slot format indicating signal.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the BS turns off the UL subband or DL subbandand the UE operates on the legacy DL BWP or the legacy UL BWP based onthe first slot format indicating signal.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein a turning off indication is carried in a group common-physicalcontrol channel (GC-PDCCH) or a medium access control-control element(MAC-CE) and is applied after a time gap that is either predefined orindicated by UE capability signaling.
 13. A base station (BS),comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory operativelyconnected with the at least one processor, the at least one memorystoring instructions, which when executed, instruct the at least oneprocessor to perform a method by: configuring a user equipment (UE) witha legacy uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) or legacy downlink (DL) BWP;and providing the UE with a UL subband or a DL subband in a full duplexoperation.
 14. The BS of claim 13, wherein a frequency domain locationof the UL subband or the DL subband provided by the BS to the UE isdefined in a frequency domain as a set of a contiguous number ofresource blocks (RBs) semi-statically indicated by a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) signaling.
 15. The BS of claim 14, wherein the frequencydomain location of the UL subband or the DL subband provided by the BSto the UE is determined based on an offset from the associated legacy ULBWP or the associated legacy DL BWP, respectively, or from anotherreference point.
 16. The BS of claim 15, wherein the offset is based ona numerology of the legacy UL BWP or the legacy DL BWP.
 17. The BS ofclaim 14, wherein the contiguous number of RBs is indicated by a radioresource control (RRC) signaling.
 18. The BS of claim 14, wherein a timedomain location of the UL subband or the DL subband is provided by twooverlaying slot format indicating signals by which the UE determines apresence and location of the UL subband and the DL subband.
 19. The BSof claim 14, wherein parameters of the frequency domain are configuredto be semi-statically or dynamically changed, and wherein the parametersinclude a starting point, an ending point, and a length of the ULsubband or the DL subband.
 20. The BS of claim 13, wherein a time domainlocation of the UL subband or the DL subband is provided by a legacyslot format indication and an indication of whether a region is the ULsubband, the DL subband, or is flexible.